Cliff

 

One of the cliffs along the shore of the York River in York River State Park. The image above is looking left. The one below is looking to the right from the same position. All this is the result of the river's floods and tides.

Fossil Beach

 

Plume Thistle

I returned this past week to York River State Park where I discovered a new kind of thistle blooming.

A certain variety of the plume thistle, I understand, is actually native to this region and is much prized for its ability to attract pollinators.

Sentry Duty

 

Ships, Old and New

Festival Park, where the masts of the replicas of the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery are just barely visible.

A more modern ship, the Century Bright, shown above, is here seen heading toward the Chesapeake Bay after leaving the port in Hopewell, Virginia.

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Funny name for a plant that blooms in 90+ degrees, I think. Still, we know autumn has to be just around the corner, right???

Trail Nuts

Virginia Capital Trail

Soybeans

Over on Governor's Land, farmers have once again planted soybeans.

One of these days, maybe I will be lucky enough to find out how these soybeans will be used. 

Canoe Launches

 

 

 

Afternoon temps finally became comfortable enough again (mid 80s) to put my canoe back in the water. These are a couple of the canoe launches in our area. College Landing (shown above) puts you into College Creek. The motor launch at Chickahominy Riverfront Park (shown below) currently leads you to Gordon Creek. The canoe and kayak launch, which normally puts you into the park's namesake Chickahominy River, is currently undergoing a major overhaul and will not be ready for use again, I was told, until the end of this year.

Both of these estuaries, I suspect, would have been well known to Captain John Smith who helped establish the first permanent English settlement in North America. He might have even traveled on them by canoe himself, from what I've read. Anyway, kind of fun to think about as you are paddling along.

 

Bump-outs

 

 

 

One of the results of the pandemic is a desire on the part of some businesses to make more-or-less permanent the outdoor dining that became popular. Here, for instance, is part of the transformation beginning to take place. Officials are calling it a "bump-out".

 

 

 

What do you think? Would you prefer outdoors or indoors?

 

Quiet Pond

  

 

Crepe Myrtle Festival

 

Yes, the heat and humidity have returned with heat indices rising into the triple digits, but so has the peak season for crepe myrtles. 

 

 

Makes me wonder why, if people hold cherry blossom festivals earlier in the year, why we don't have crepe myrtle festivals. Maybe because it's just too darn hot? So maybe we could celebrate with appropriately colored (and flavored) crushed ice?

Lagerstroemia

 

"Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crape myrtle (also spelled crepe myrtle or crêpe myrtle), is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia, and other parts of Oceania, cultivated in warmer climates around the world. It is a member of the family Lythraceae, which is also known as the loosestrife family. The genus is named after Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, a director of the Swedish East India Company, who supplied Carl Linnaeus with plants he collected. These flowering trees are beautifully colored and are often planted both privately and commercially as ornamentals." -- Wikipedia

Waterfront

 

Just a last couple of shots of the Yorktown waterfront showing the Coleman Bridge above and the statues representing an imagined conversation between Gen. George Washington, Adm. Francois Joseph Paul, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Comte de Grasse.

Schooner

 

Have you ever been to Yorktown, Virginia? I don't mean the battlefield where Cornwallis famously surrendered his forces to George Washington. I'm referring to the town and, even more specifically, to its wharf. Actually, it had been a long time since I visited there, but I recently got news that the Schooner Virginia was going to be docked there for a couple of days and so I made sure I was there as soon as it dropped its gangway.

Regeneration

 

Clearly it has been a while since people hiked the White Pine Trail, since much of what is left of the trail has been obscured by tall ferns. Also, what trail markers might have once been in place are now long gone. At times, in fact, I had to resort to my compass to figure out where I was. No cell service here! 

Still, as often is the case, I made a new discovery traipsing through this part of the Mount Toby Forest. I discovered what a "regeneration system" is. According to one source I consulted, "Forest regeneration is the process by which new tree seedlings become established after forest trees have been harvested or have died from fire, insects, or disease. Regeneration is key to sustainable forestry and can be accomplished through two basic approaches:

1) natural regeneration, which occurs when new seedlings or sprouts are produced by trees left on or near the site (as with aspen) 

2) artificial regeneration, more commonly known as tree planting

South End

 

 

 

Here's the view from the southern end of Cranberry Pond looking north. According to the Secret Reel, this is "a small, 27-acre, cold water pond . . . characterized by clear watercolor and has a transparency of 15 feet. The mean and maximum depths are four feet and 26 feet respectively. The 1.1 miles of shoreline are undeveloped and emergent aquatic vegetation covers about ten percent of the surface area." 

 

Mount Toby Forest

 

So my next hiking adventure took me to the Mount Toby Forest where I planned to hike the Cranberry Pond Trail. Here's what the University of Massachusetts has to say about this area: 

"Department of Natural Resources Conservation at UMass-Amherst has responsibility for managing the 755-acre Mt. Toby Demonstration forest for teaching, research and demonstration. We also try to coordinate with recreational users of the Forest, as well as the Mass. DCR (who operate the fire tower at the summit), and other organizations. The Forest is topographically diverse. To the south are three hills, the highest being Mount Toby (1269 feet). Slopes are steep with small cliffs and ledges to the east and west. There is a deep valley between two of the hills – Roaring Mountain to the south and Ox Hill to the north – with a brook that drops in a waterfall near the eastern border of the Forest. Most, but not all of it, has been logged more than once, but some areas are so inaccessible that they were never logged. Today, UMass students and faculty use the forest for teaching, field exercises, and forestry research activities. Mount Toby is used heavily by the general public for a variety of recreational activities. These are allowed so long as they conform with the University Trustees guidelines for use of the Forest and do not interfere with teaching and research activities."

Amethyst Brook

Rock Art