George Washington State Forest, Signal Knob

This post should be before the last one, as the last tenacious laurel blooms attest. Better late than never! A circuit hike on Massanutten Mountain, Virginia in George Washington National Forest was a perfect way to soak in one of the last remaining true summer days. George Washington National Forest During the Civil War, a charcoal-blast iron furnace at the base of Signal Knob, supplied pig iron to Richmond. Signal Knob was used as a Confederate lookout to monitor Federal troop movements in Shenandoah Valley. Signals relayed along the ridges sometimes reached as far as Richmond. Pretty rocky trail but plenty of Civil War ghosts to keep me company!

Catoctin Mountain State Park and Cunningham Falls

Hurricane Irene brought more than extreme flooding, collapsed roofs, and downed trees. As I was hiking through Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland, I noticed an abundance of gills, scales, and stalks. The fruit bodies of fungi were everywhere! I was amazed at how many different kinds I saw growing out of decaying logs, moss, and decomposing leaves.  

The aforementioned parks were sites of Revolutionary and Civil War furnaces that produced large amounts of pig iron. The furnaces required wood to burn and the area was clear cut down to stubble. Under FDR and his Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps, many people were put to work during the Depression planting saplings and cutting many miles of trails through theses newly designated Maryland parks.

A hefty, jaunty, chunky, guy not sure what his name is.

You can see the ring under the cap of the shroomie on your left.

Maryland forest in September.

 Looking down for mushrooms!

Hen of the Woods or Maitake, Grifola frondosa. Commonly clusters at the base of oaks and it's edible! Strangely enough, this fungus is native to both the eastern US and Japan, hence the two common names that are widely different. When Hen of the Woods ages, it becomes too tough to eat.

Jack-o-Lantern, Omphalotus, Clitocybe. These guys are poisonous and bioluminescent, glowing a subtle green color at night. According to Wiki, this mushrooms has a chemical compound that pharmaceutical companies are researching as a possible cure for some cancers. 

View of Monocacy Valley from Hog Rock, elevation 1610 ft. I had to take out a few boy scouts to snap this shot.

Gymnopus subnudans. Little dainties with delicate stalks (or stipes). MushroomExpert.com calls them LBM's (Little Brown Mushrooms), not a very flattering name, in my opinion. They are edible, but the taste isn't distinctive.

Russula mushroom. Looking down on the cap from above. Apparently, these come in a variety of colors; I only saw the red.

A beautiful feathery purplish-blue wildflower that I haven't been able to identify with my two books on wildflowers of the eastern US or with any online identification guides. If anyone has a clue, lemme know!

I believe this is a type of Lepiota, not sure what species. It was a glowing beam on the forest floor on an overcast day.

This looks like Hygrocybe cantharellus.  The Fungi-zette calls this, "One of the most jovial little mushrooms". This makes me love the Fungi-zette very much.

The most worthwhile thing to follow - a trail.

It had already been kicked over by another hiker. I was curious...

Beard. Union General John Reynolds whose corps marched past Catoctin Furnace on their way to Emmitsville and later to Gettysburg. How do I know? HISTORIC PLAQUE of course!








According to yet another fabulous historic plaque, this is "Isabella" the stack furnace, built in 1858 and the Casting Shed. Isabella produced 3300 pounds of pig iron annually that was used to make Civil War ammunition, guns, and a variety of other things to kill people. It blasted at 3000 degrees F and ran 24 hours a day. The furnaces employed deserters from the Union and the Confederacy because they needed workers so badly to keep up with production needs. An earlier furnace, built in 1776 was probably located very close by. During the time of production, the air would have smelled like rotting eggs (sulfur).

Cunningham Falls, the parks namesake.

Hello history, talk to me.

Shenandoah NP: Overall/Heiskell Hollow Loop

"River flowing alongside high hills and mountains", "Sprucy stream", "Daughter of the skies", all theories about the meaning of the word Shenandoah. I took the perfect spring Maryland weather as a que to hike a 13 mile portion of Shenandoah and see the sprucy streams, rivers flowing alongside high hills and mountains for myself.

I decided to strap on my pack, complete with all necessary assorted overnight gear, and head out, braving bears and banshees for a solo hike. The loop I chose was the Overall Run/Heiskell Hollow Loop, (http://www.hikingupward.com/SNP/OverallRunHeiskellHollow/) that originates at a beucolic farm covered in soft moss and cactus, sunbeams and cow dung, a gurgling cool brook and junked, rusty, abandoned trailers; all common Maryland juxtapositions. Of course, I wondered who the Heiskells were, don't you?! I did some Googling and found this from the Madera County Library website, "Frederick Heiskell was born 1752 in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, and died 1815 in Stony Creek, Shenandoah County, Virginia. He married Catherine Von Steidinger 1774 in Virginia, daughter of Frederick and Magdalena Steidinger. She was born 1756, and died February 1818 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Her father was from Wetterschaussen, Wurttemburg, Germany. Frederick Heiskell was a merchant, and the father of ten children."









I started off without a soul in sight and was immediately greeted by swimming holes that must have had some invisible sirens hanging out along their banks because I had to use some major willpower not to jump in - I had some miles to go first! I forded over 5 streams, first taking my shoes on and off and then not caring and sloshing right through. I saw my first Wood Thrush (Gondolina from the AT adventure). I swear one of the little brown sprites followed me the whole trail flickering in and out of low branches and sunlight.





Of course, I didn't bring a map, just wrote down the directions on a piece of paper. I took a wrong turn at the beginning and ended up taking a different route through the loop. I asked random hikers to see their maps and generally understood, that I was on the right path, just a little different from the one I had initially decided upon (that line is ripe for yoga teacher use). As night was drawing near and I started looking for a place to camp, I decided, last minute, to ask one more person if I could see their map to make sure I knew where I was before setting up camp. WIth this in mind, I passed a small campsite nestled back behind some trees. I barely glimpsed the tents from the path. "Um, excuse me...." I timidly asked the guy, about my age with cut-off jeans. He looked up and I realized, "Oh my gentle Jesus, I know this person." Turned out to be one of Mr. Mike Marks' best friends, Joel. We looked at each other, speachless and then we both laughed in disbelief. Out of all the places in the universe to run into someone, the odds of us happening upon each other in the backcountry of Virginia seemed one of the most unlikely. Joel's awesome girlfriend Kaitlin and his roommate Bert were both there too. Looked like I wasn't going to have to brave the wilderness by myself after all. A sign? Maybe. Awesome company. Definitely.








The aptly named, Big Falls










Page Valley with the Manssauntten Range beyond, view from Big Falls - yeah, seriously, good idea God