We stayed closer to home last weekend, going for a walk between Sycamore Landing and Edwards Ferry. This has become our go-to walk in recent times, when we do not want to go far, and when we do not want to be too adventurous. The distance that we cover is towards the longer end of our limits, and I am usually beginning to drag as we get towards the end. I am going to feel it more and more as the heat picks up.
This was the weekend that the old standby, the Rosa Multiflora flowers,
made their appearance beside the trail. The other flowers that I became familiar with when I started visiting the canal was the Fleabane. Those were also around in large numbers.
Other flowers include a kind of white violet (it could be a Canada Violet),
what I think is called False Solomon Seal,
and clover.
In the sections of the canal bed with water, we found Yellow Pond Lily
and Yellow Iris.
I believe that this plant is called Solomon’s Seal.
It would indeed be quite the coincidence if we happened on both False Solomon’s Seal and Solomon’s Seal during the same outing, but I am not completely confident about my conclusion.
This is probably a Mock Strawberry.
As an aside, I now think the plant I had mistaken for Virginia Waterleaf back in April is actually an American Bladdernut. They form very distinctive pods later in the year.
The trail was packed with people during the later part of our walk. (This is one of the disadvantages of staying closer to home.) We passed a troop of boy scouts. They were taking their own sweet time moving north. When they stopped at Edwards Ferry for a break, their troop leader was noting (maybe complaining) that it had been less than a mile between breaks. He wanted them to get up and keep moving.
The campsite near Edwards Ferry was full. When we took a detour along the river at Edwards Ferry, we actually discovered a couple and a dog camped out on the unmarked trail by the river. They said that the campsite was too full.
Bikers were also out in large numbers, and in large groups. They were mostly riding in a courteous manner, moving into single file when passing. All the same, we had to been vigilant. There were many occasions when we would turn back expecting somebody to be coming up behind us, only to find that we were imagining things!
Splattered Brains 