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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Wednesday Walkabout

The boss (lucky bugger) headed to Hawaii last Thursday and won't be back until next week so I've been able to set my own hours for work.  It is nice to have a few extra days off while Troubadour isn't working.

Today we weren't sure what the weather was going to do and decided to go for a long walk through Bald Hill Natural Area - 284 acres of hiking, biking and horse trails.  It is one of our favorite areas and it is within walking distance of our house (1.5 miles / 2.4 km). It is shorter if we take 53rd but who wants to take the direct route?  Well, as long as we walk down our road, cut through the Christmas tree farm, down a path, through the hole in the chain link fence and over the railroad tracks.... technically it is near the house.

Here is a link to the trail map ----> LINK  We enter off of Reservoir Road and walked to the barn then to Oak Creek Drive and back to Reservoir tracing our steps.

We had a mixed bag of trick as far as the weather.  It started off sunny, changed to overcast, a little rain when we hit our turn around point, more sun, more rain and more clouds.  Not bad for a 5+ mile walk.  If we had more time we would have hiked further up the trails.

I brought the little Canon HS300 with me and took some photos.  The changing light made for some bright and some dark photos.  Here are the better ones.  They were all taken in Bald Hill Park.

(Little ways into the park - slight incline)

(Little further up the multi-use path)

(Farmers' fields to the north and east of the path)

(Apparently we have newts)

(Left turn to the barn and Oak Creek - right to 53rd St.)

(Trails leading off of the main paved one)

(On the way to the barn and Oak Creek)

(Another view of all those oak leaves)

(Soon the restored barn is spotted to our left)

(Walk up a gravel path to the barn)

(Restored barn - can be reserved for special occasions)

(I wish there was a sign to tell us the history of the barn)

(Surrounded by oak trees)

(Looking west - path beyond the barn goes to the top of bald hill - gives you a valley view)

(From the barn looking east towards Corvallis)

(Back down on the multi-use path I spotted mushrooms)

(And Hawthorne berries)

(And blackberries that hadn't quite ripened)

(Looking southeast across the freshly sprouted grass fields)

(Looking south towards our starting point - black clouds moving in)

(Looking North - straight stretch towards the turn around point)

(Our half way point - and also where it started to rain)

(We turned back around and headed south)

(Towards the ominous clouds)

(And found a woolly bear - larval form of the pyrrharctia isabella, aka Isabella Tiger Moth)
(Looks to be an average winter coming)

(The Teasel have gone dormant and lost their purple tufts)

(Not a lot of color in the hills)

(And still more clouds)

(Oak marble galls - fallen with the leaves)

(Inside of the gall - the galls are very brittle)

(Oak marble galls are caused by the gall wasp laying eggs)

(Two different leaves with two galls each)
Stopping to photograph the galls was our last photo break.  It was after 1:00 pm and we were getting hungry for lunch.  We picked up the pace and booked it for home.

I do apologize for the lengthy post.  I managed to take 95 photos, so I think I actually narrowed it down quite a bit.

Back to the office for a little while tomorrow then I shall take Friday and Monday off.  I wonder what kind of mischief Troubadour and I can get into.

-Au Revoir

" I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it." - William Shakespeare
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31 comments:

  1. Trobairitz:

    thank you for explaining about those marble galls, have never seen any before. I think it was nice for you two to have some together/bonding time on a nice day. I liked those low angle shots the best

    It would seem that you had the whole place to yourselves.

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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    1. Brad said that he has seen them before but never knew what they were. I didn't ever remember seeing them before. It took some research on Brad's part but he discovered their name.

      There sure weren't a lot of people there. When we go on evening or weekend walks there are a lot of people. At noon on a Wednesday it was just the occasional dog walker or jogger.

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  2. Great pics! Those quiet lanes look like they need a big V-twin adv bike booming down them...

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    1. Ha, now wouldn't that be fun. Unfortunately it is limited to 4 horsepower and those need to be the equine variety. No motorized vehicles, but with the trail system it would definitely be a hoot.

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  3. I am constantly surprised at the wonderful places you find, I suppose i have a preconcieved idea that america is one big concrete park!

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    1. Oh there are a lot of concrete jungles, but we are lucky in Oregon that green space is a huge priority along with the concrete.

      Corvallis really likes their parks and bicycle paths so we are lucky there too.

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  4. Triffic! and as you are partial to a bit of `Will Power`:

    "do you look for ale and cakes here,
    you rude rascals?"

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    1. Who doesn't like Will Power?

      And are you telling me I need to hang? lol

      "Belong to the gallows, and be hang'd, ye rogue! Is this the place to roar in?...." (just in case someone wants to know the preceding lines, lest they think we're both ready for bedlam) But then I should mention it is from Henry VIII

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  5. This is such a beautiful walk and area. I can't decide what photos I like the most! So pretty. I'm going to come back and look at them again and again. Those oak trees are gorgeous. I want to be there...

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    1. Thank you Martha. I think you would enjoy a stroll through those woods.

      Further up is an all gravel path that winds around a pasture of cows (the farmer granted an easement) and then it is a walk higher up into the woods. We did that path a few years ago and really need to get back out there. It is quite a hike.

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  6. Nice pics. Looks like a good place to explore on a pushbike! I've never seen marble galls before. I guess we don't get them over here, either that or I'm pretty unobservant.

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    1. We did it on our push bikes years ago. The climb to the top over the switch backs is a bitch and I hit gravel on the way down and went over the bars. Good thing I have better coordination on my motorcycle.

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  7. Very nice photos. I've seen those galls before but had no idea what they were either. I've walked on many of the trails in that park over many visits but always started at the Oak Creek parking lot. Thank you for taking us along on your walk.

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    1. Thanks Richard. I figured you would recognize the place. We usually start at Reservoir and walk all the way to the top via the path by the barn hen take the steeper path back down, but opted to walk over to Oak Creek and back instead yesterday.

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  8. It is always nice to get away for a little walk/hike, especially when there is great scenery. Nice photos!

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    1. Thanks Thomas. It is nice to get out and stretch the legs once in a while. I usually forget to take the camera when walking, but for once remembered it.

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  9. Lovely day for a walk ... how lucky and the paths in many of the photos looked paved WOW. (Oak gulls ... where in the world?)

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    1. The main parts of the path from Reservoir to Oak Creek and over to 53rd are all paved and over a meter wide. When you deviate from the main path it is all gravel and dirt trails. We have to watch out if it has been raining a lot as the walk to the top and back down can be a slippery muddy mess, but fun.

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  10. I keep coming back to the Teasel photo. I like it very much.
    ~k

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    1. I am glad you liked that photo the best. It was hard to get one with the green field behind it. I was torn between that or sky, but it would have been backlit with sky. The green suits it.

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  11. What a nice way to spend the day. And you have good weather too. Isn't it great at times when the cat (I mean boss) is out of the house, and one can plan the day to one's own liking? Brilliant pictures. I have a hard time picking a favorite, I like them all!

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    1. It is great when the boss is away. I don't have to go back to the office until Tuesday, yay.

      I am glad you liked the pictures Sonja. Nature is one of my favorite things to photograph.

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  12. Love your Quote for this post, so true about pretty well any place in the world if you think about it.

    Great post and not too lengthy at all, I think you did great to narrow down to so few pics. I always love your closeup photos!

    Love the barn, could see it as a lovely place to get married.

    What a fantastic walk!! Thanks for sharing it with me Brandy :)

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    1. Oh and you didnt get to see a newt? :(

      I would be looking from now on!

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    2. You are welcome Brenda. We didn't see any newts, but I know they are out there. We had to take our old cat Baxter (who passed away 4 years ago) to the vet for uncontrollable drooling and the vet said he'd eaten or licked a newt or skink and they contain toxins that will have that reaction in cats. My mom said he must have been hanging out at the 'newty bar' too much.

      He only ever did it twice. It went away after a day or so but we felt so bad for him while he was drooling. Luckily Basil doesn't find or catch them.

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  13. You really do live in a gorgeous area of the USA - and so close to your house too. Thanks for all the fabulous photos - I have a real soft spot for barns. Interesting comment about skinks and Baxter. Annie used to catch the skinks which live in our garden but she doesn't seem to bother now. Wonder if she began to realise that they were icky?

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    1. Yeah, we are pretty luck. And with all this rain everything is greening up really nice. I wonder if Annie doesn't like the taste of the skinks or maybe didn't feel so well after. It is probably good she avoids them now.

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  14. Wow. Where to begin? Those pictures are gorgeous. Thanks for taking me along on what looks to have been a fabulous walk. I have never heard of oak marble galls before. Seriously, great job on the images. They are stunning. Oddly, the shot of the teasel may be my favorite because the shape is just so unique.

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    1. Thanks Kathy. I hadn't heard of the galls before either but it is nice to know what they are now.

      I will have to get a picture of the teasel for you when they bloom. You'd think they were a thistle at that stage.

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  15. Great looking day out. I'm glad that you and Troubadour are able to spend some time together.

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    1. Thanks Lori. We are lucky to have some days off together. I am sure he'd rather be working right now, but something will come up and it will make us appreciate the mid-week days off we have now.

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