Testing the Waters

After successfully reaching the summit of Mount Battie, I felt ready to test my hip out on some more difficult ascents. Later in that same week, I ventured up the Multi-use trail in the Camden Hills State Park. There was always that deceiving uphill portion between the Frohock Trail and the mile marker to tackle; a not steep but a steady incline that has always made me stop multiple times to catch my breath. I knew my hip would be okay but since it had been weeks without exercise I kept a slow pace more for my breathing than the hip. I successfully made this climb as far as the Bald Rock Trail head and felt that was enough for the day. By the weekend, my husband joined me and again we went as far as the Bald Rock Trail head to test out his sore ankle. He was okay on the ascent. The descent caused him a little trouble but it was not enough to deter us from trying again the next day. This time, our goal was to summit Bald Rock Mountain.

Since it was the first warm, sunny weekend of the year, we took our time up the hill in order to discover what wonders awaited. Unfortunately, the day was still and the black flies descended every time we stopped. To make matters worse it was transition time. The black flies still had a few weeks to go but the mosquitoes had emerged with a vengeance. To have both out at the same time just seemed a little unfair. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before we donned the head nets and continued our slow pace.

Someone had pointed out to me that the growing season seemed to be about two weeks late this year and as we walked up the Multi-use road this certainly seemed to be the case. Things that should have bloomed earlier were only now in full bloom. I kept a sharp lookout towards the sides of this path and soon discovered plenty of Jack-in-the-Pulpits hidden beneath their three leaves. Just past the mile marker, I found a patch of Wild Columbine. Nearby, a cluster of False Solomon Seal was getting ready to flower.

Once we reached the Bald Rock trailhead, we paused a bit before continuing on this more difficult trail. Part of the difficulty was two fairly steep sections; once just before a set of stone steps where loose rocks and roots were a problem and the other almost at the end of the trail where erosion, probably from overuse added to the challenge. While we rested before making this climb, I noticed bead lilies and bunchberries were in full flower. Some bellworts nearby, were almost done. My observations done, we were ready to move on.

We did alright on our climb, pausing just before ascending the stairs. Shortly after this section, we stopped to hunt out the large patch of Lady Slippers off in the woods, just before the trail made a left up the hill. I wondered how many travelers actually took note of all the flowers we had already seen, or was the focus on just getting to the top and ticking off another summit. How sad that so many may have missed some of the wonderful gifts of nature. Then again, how many areas of beauty had been destroyed from thoughtless actions? When I thought of the downside, I mused that maybe it was best that this patch of flowers was hidden a bit off the trail.

We continued our journey towards the summit, resting once more before the last steep push near the end. Once on the summit, I decided to test my camera’s take of the foliage below me to see if the bright light would once again render the leaves yellow. The images looking down towards the harbor showed colors that were true so I was unable to duplicate the problem. The other test for my camera (or the photographer) was focusing. For some reason, I have had difficulty focusing with this new camera. Images were fine when viewed on the camera screen, even when I zoomed in on the details, but then, when I loaded the images onto my computer the pictures were blurry. I was getting pretty frustrated, figuring that photography was not my strong point. The worst were the tiny flowers, so when I found a patch of Mayflowers nearby I played around, even changing the lens. I think I got some decent pictures of these and the Starflowers but it is definitely a work in progress.

After my photo session and a snack, we decided we had enough of black flies and mosquitoes for one day and headed back down the trail. Once again, the descent bothered my husband’s ankle a bit but nothing horrible. We were ready to get back into our explorations.