Saying Goodbye

Our plans are starting to gel a bit: the movers are coming on the 15th and we are out then or the next day. We have rented a house for a few weeks in Yamhill, OR. With our leaving being pretty much imminent at this point, my father wanted to come say goodbye. At his age and in his state of not awesome health, he probably had no business making a long, long drive, but he is a stubborn son of a gun. He drove up from his house in Alabama and arrived on Thursday at my aunt and uncle's house in the hills near Burlington WV, a wide spot on US 50 slightly east of Keyser. We drove out from our house on Friday and spent the night catching up one last time before we head west for good.

Susan and Marshall live south of Route 50 back up on a pretty decent hill (about 1200 feet) that has wonderful views of the surrounding mountains, especially from their spacious rear deck. Their house is situated on a very lightly traveled dirt road that just invites you to take a walk through the woods and take in your surroundings. It's a very peaceful place and I really enjoy going there. A bonus is that Susan has several bird feeders at one end of her deck along with a couple of hummingbird feeders hanging from an awning. It's a lot of fun to sit there and watch the birds do their thing, especially the noisy hummers jockeying for feeder rights.

View From the Back Deck

Annie in Doggie Heaven

Charlie Liked Standing on the Bench

Susan and Marshall with Their Dogs

My Father

Happy Hour on the Deck

Ann's still learning about the birds that visit feeders and she is confused, like most people, about the difference between Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers. They look almost identical. But the Hairy is very much larger than the Downy, has a much stouter and longer bill, and a lower call. It was great for Ann to see both birds side-by-side on the feeder so that she could see the differences up close.

Male Hairy Woodpecker, Leuconotopicus villosus

Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris

Dad and Marshall Walking the Dogs

We spent a good bit of time outside enjoying the wonderful fall weather that we're having now. It's weather that we should be having a month from now. The only downside is that we usually get about six weeks off from mowing grass this time of year, but not this year. Taking advantage of the cool weather, we took a bunch of walks and I spent some time kicking around the yard where Susan has her tiny garden inside a chain-link fence to keep the deer out. Growing up one side of the fence and covered in hummingbirds was this beautiful Cypressvine, something I have never seen before.

Cypressvine, Ipomoea quamoclit

Sweet Autumn Clematis, Clematis terniflora

Clematis Blooms Up Close

I saw three wildflowers up in the dry shale woods that I have never seen before, including this lavender-blooming mint which was growing everywhere. When I rubbed the leaves, they smelled harshly of oregano. Susan called it Wild Oregano.

American Dittany/Wild Oregano, Cunila origanoides

Another new flower to me was a handsome plant with white bracts surrounding a tiny yellow flower, Pearly Everlasting. I knew what it was based on some western wildflower books I am reading in preparation for moving to Oregon, but I have not encountered it in the east before.

Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

Catnip, Nepeta cataria

Deptford Pink, Dianthus armeria

This August has been significantly wetter than most and I noticed that the Creeping Lespedeza is doing particularly well this year. Now that we are almost at the first of September, it is blooming profusely all over our region.

Creeping Lespedeza, Lespedeza repens

Toxic Horse-nettle Fruit, Solanum carolinense

The shale in this part of Mineral County WV is full of fossils, full to the point where it is nearly impossible not to see many fossils on a single walk. We saw many types of small shells in the shale as well as worm tubes.

Fossils in the Shale

Our Ladies'-tresses at home are pretty well bloomed out, but we saw a couple, not many, that were just starting to bloom up on the mountain. Some while ago, I would have said what species of Spiranthes this plant is, but I have since learned that there are probably at least a dozen species in our area and I really have no idea which this might be, despite my prior confidence borne of ignorance.

Ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes sp.

Sulphur Cinquefoil, Potentilla recta

The Snakeroots have been starting to bloom in recent weeks and they are always cheerful plants to see when we hike. Boneset is another plant that whose bloom looks similar and can be confusing for some people. The two have very different leaves and growth habits despite having very similar blooms. It was instructive to see the two plants blooming right next to each other so that we could look at the differences comparatively.

White Snakeroot, Ageratina altissima

Common Boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum
with Copulating Soldier Beetles

Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina

To be expected at this time of year, the roadsides and woods were littered with goldenrods in full bloom. I have a very hard time separating goldenrods, but this one, growing in a wetter location with long narrow lanceolate leaves and relatively small flower clusters, struck me as being fairly different from the ones that I usually see. I came to find out this it is not a Solidago at all but a Euthamia.

Lance-leaved Goldenrod, Euthamia graminifolia

We were very pleased to see that every patch of milkweed along the road had its share of Monarch Butterfly larvae.

Monarch Butterfly Larva, Danaus plexippus
on Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

Wingstem is a plant that I have been waiting to see in person. I have always been struck by the flowers in photos and I was no less struck when I saw the very tall plants in person. This patch ranged from 5- to 8-feet high.

Wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia

Thistle with Soldier Beetle and Bumblebee

Common Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis

Rose Hips

Another plant that Susan showed me is the Hop-hornbeam, Ostrya virginiana. I have seen a lot of them, but never with the hop-like fruit capsules.

Hop-Hornbeam "Hops", Ostrya virginiana

Chestnut Oak, Quercus montana

Lake Down in the Creek Bottom

It was a great visit with my father and my aunt and uncle. Saying goodbye is the part of moving on that really bothers me but going to Oregon is something that Ann and I just have to do.

Raven Rocks

We're having to adjust our hiking now that we are without dog care, our sitter having gone to college. Which seems to be going well: he and a bunch of new friends drunk FaceTimed us late last night as their evening was just getting underway and ours was quickly ramping down. Charlie Dog really can't hike and we leave Grace at home to keep him company. Because of this, we need to keep our hikes short and near home.

We've pretty much decided to head for Oregon the week of Labor Day and so things are moving quickly now and we're really aware now that our life is full of a lot of lasts, including this, probably our last hike on the AT until we return one spring to thru hike it. The AT and I have long history. Rarely have I ever lived more than 30 minutes from it and I have hiked big sections of it from Springer to the Mason-Dixon Line. And to me it feels like home: from home, we can see Harper's Ferry, Key's Gap, Snicker's Gap, and Ashby Gap.

Sunday, Ann wanted to revisit the hike that first confirmed for us that we wanted to get back into hiking seriously, some 16 months ago: Snicker's Gap to Raven Rocks and back. While it's not a long hike, it is the northern end of the so-called Rollercoaster, a long series of pain-in-the-ass ups and downs. In other words, this 2.7-mile stretch of trail feels more like 6 or 7 miles, or so my knees were complaining on Sunday. Our 30th hike of 2017 totaled right at 6 miles, but felt much longer than that.

Roadside Marker on Route 7

As we sped past the trailhead on Route 7, it seemed that the parking there was full and so we went all the way up into the gap and parked in the big lot up there. We started our morning walking the 2- or 3-tenths back down beside Route 7 to the trailhead. It is really amazing how fast cars come at you up this busy 4-lane highway and how much noise they make.

Heading to the Route 7 Crossing

AT Directions on the Pavement

Survey Marker on the AT North of Snicker's Gap

It's kind of fitting that after walking along the Clarke and Loudoun County, VA borders, we crossed into Jefferson County WV and encountered this sign, not for the first time. Though the sense of the sign is backward, that is, VA is on the right and WV on the left, it is a fitting metaphor for our lives right now with two daughters in Charlottesville at UVA and a son in Morgantown at WVU. Living where we do in Virginia with WV on three sides, to our west, north, and east, our lives have been intertwined with the two states for a very long time.

Clarke and Jefferson Counties Meet

Shenandoah Valley from Raven Rocks

Looking East

Great Spot to Sit and Just Be

Annie Adding to Her Boot Shot Collection

Our selecting this hike was unfortunate in that the section of AT from Snicker's Gap to Raven Rocks was crowded with a few day hikers and many larger groups of younger people out for a day in the woods. I'm sure it was much worse on the other side of the gap at the perpetually overcrowded Bear's Den Rocks.

Our style of hiking is quiet so that we can take in our surroundings, the birds singing, the squirrels chattering, the wind rustling the leaves and so forth. We hike to enjoy the peace, quiet, and solitude of the outdoors. And this puts us squarely at odds with the legions of young people on the trail who are making a noisy social event of their day.

We're not right and they're not wrong: we are each hiking our own hike. Our need for peace and quiet has driven us in the last year to the less crowded parts of George Washington National Forest where the hikers we meet are more like-minded and tend to share our reverence for this beautiful planet. Unfortunately our current dog situation is keeping us close to home and closer to the hordes.

I just wish that some of these others enjoying the woods could sense the impact that their actions have on others. Take for example two women coming down the trail towards us. We could hear them for minutes before we saw them and I bet myself that it was a group of at least 8 from all the racket. What are the odds of seeing a doe peacefully drinking from a stream under these circumstances?

And then as Ann and I were sitting on the cliff-top in the shade taking in the view over the Shenandoah Valley, we heard another group approach noisily. "OMG Can believe we have signal up here?!!?" and "Hashtag beautiful!" were just a few squealing exclamations intruding into our thoughts. After they posted their requisite pictures to social media oblivious to our presence, they came the 20 yards further along the cliff-top and planted themselves directly between us and our view, yapping away non-stop. Really, in whose moral code is it OK to plant yourself directly in front of someone else obstructing their view without so much as asking "Do you mind?"

Without a word to each other, Ann and I grabbed our packs and headed back down off the mountain towards the car.

This time of year, up in the woods under full tree cover, there really is nothing to speak of in the way of wildflowers. We did see a few Silene blooms and just a few Tick-trefoils starting to bloom. I don't have any clue how to tell what species of Tick-trefoil is what.

White Campion, Silene latifolia

A Tick-trefoil, Desmodium spp.

The vast majority of the wildflowers we saw were in the ditches along Route 7 where they get sun for a good part of the day.

Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica

A Sundrop, Oenothera spp.

Ditches Full of Spotted Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis

I was happy to see a clematis blooming in the ditch alongside route 7: it's time for the annual fall display. The fence at the restaurant is now covered in its annual white carpet of very fragrant blossoms, but these blooms are from the non-native and invasive Clematis ternifolia, Sweet Autumn Clematis, which is extremely common in Winchester. Up on the mountain, I was especially happy to see the lobed leaves of the true native Virgin's Bower, Clematis virginiana, sadly a bit of a rarity in these parts where C. ternifolia is taking over.

Clematis virginiana with Lobed Leaves

The roadsides were also littered in grasshoppers and hundreds of them were lifting off the ground fluttering on yellow-edged black wings as we made our way back to the car.

Differential Grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis

In all, our 30th hike of the year was only about 6 miles, but on this particular day with all the rocks and climbs, that was all my knees could take. Farewell AT. See you in a few years.

Moulard Duck with Blackberries

Moulard Duck with Blackberries

I'm still getting used to this whole cooking at home thing. Monday night, I still had a couple Moulard duck breasts left from closing the restaurant and Ann asked for them in some Asian style. Looking about the fridge, there wasn't a lot in terms of garnishes, but I did find a few blackberries from the farmers market, some celery, carrots, and an orange sweet pepper.

The duck breast is scored, seared, and roasted until rare/medium rare, then rested, sliced, and fanned on the plate. For one garnish, I made a quick salad of julienned carrots, peppers, and celery which was tossed at the very last second in a dressing of soy, black vinegar, agave, sambal oelek, and sesame oil. For the blackberry garnish, I did a quick gastrique by caramelizing minced shallot in sesame oil then adding blackberries, black vinegar, and agave and seasoning to taste.

Really simple and 15 minutes start to finish.