Fall Foliage Photos

The view from Balkamore Hill, just north of Stanley, VA.

Well, here we are hunkered down during Hurricane Sandy.  I was thumbing through the photos I have saved on my phone and realized I hadn't put up some of the foliage highlight shots I took last weekend when we were out at Hawksbill Cabin.  This weather is going to hasten the end of the foliage - as you can see by the Skyline Drive photo I've put in at the end of the post - but for now, it's good to remember it in the face of this week's apocalypse.

The first photo is the one from up on Balkamore Hill - where the bike races take place.  I often take that route as part of my drive back from the park with Tessie.  It was a nice view with the fall colors last weekend.

Back in the wood lot, looking up through hickories and oaks.

Another of our rituals during the fall and winter is a walk back into the wood lot.  I don't do this in the spring and summer when the snakes are on the move, even though Tessie will stand at the beginnings of the path and wait for me to come along.  We have a lot of hickories back in there, their golden color making a highlight.

Dogwoods and the still-green apple tree in the front yard.

In the front yard, we have some nice trees of species that are well known for their foliage, including a dogwood or two.  Here's a peak at them from the driveway, with the little patio off the main bedroom just in the view on the left.  The strong angle of the sun required me to stay in the shadow of the house.

It's a pity, but with the rain, wind, and possible wintry mix of precipitation, the leaves will be all but gone when we're next out.  But we'll see about that!

Closing out the post today, here's a photo I clipped earlier from the Internet.  It's from one of the Skyline Drive webcams, near Big Meadows (which is only four miles from Hawksbill Cabin as the crow flies, and about 3,000 feet above it).  As you can see, they're getting snow up there today - the forecast said anything above 1,500 feet would - and the drive has been closed.

Brr!  And it's not even winter yet!

Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park, via webcam, 10/29/2012.

Change o' Season

We are about two months into the fall season at this point, and I'd say our leaf canopy is about 75 to 80 percent down.  There are still rustling oaks out in the front yard, and there are even some bright golden patches left on the nut trees that are deeper back in the woods.  One highlight of this time of year are these shrubs, which are the last to change - they really put on a show for us.

One thing that we look forward to every year, as we get to this stage of autumn, is the opening of our sight lines into the hollow across the way.  We can see and hear a stretch of Beaver Run and it will stay that way now until spring.  Off in the distance is Tanners Ridge.  (This where we had the beaver pond a couple of years ago, if you're interested, just click on the label to read more about that...)

From the brick terrace, I can hear and sometimes see the small herd we have crossing through the hollow, uphill from the stream.  They probably come back down to the stream about a half mile away, deeper in the woods.  They are shy this time of year, and the reports that echo through the hills tell you why - it's hunting season now through the end of the month.

Just about time to have the yard cleaned up.  We are working on getting an appointment for this - probably the week after Thanksgiving, to give the rest of the leaves time to drop.

On a final note, as Mary and I were driving into Luray for some errands Sunday, I saw a wisp of smoke on Massanutten a mile or two north of Kennedy Peak.  This would be between 12 and 15 miles north of Lokey Hollow, the fire I was posting on a few weeks back.  I'll track this one and put some posts up as I find news - it didn't look very big just yet, as we were seeing it in the early afternoon.

I got your fall color...

The sun has just passed behind one of our white oaks from where I sit on the brick terrace. For a little while the western light will grow more intense as the angles deepen, and the colors I’ve been enjoying today will show themselves in new perspectives. On this very pleasant Sunday afternoon I think I will put together a couple of the week’s Hawksbill Cabin posts.

Last night we had that beautiful moon, and I sat out on the terrace with a little fire, waiting for the light to come up over Hawksbill Mountain to the east. When it finally did, as my fire’s embers were dying, the moonbeams first struck a couple of the grisly dead cottonwood trees in Beaver Run hollow. They reflect the pale light back spookily, white phantoms haunting the forest. Any hope I might have had of catching sight of a shooting star overhead was chased away by the brightening sky; later, that light was enough to cast full shadows of the trees around the yard.

Then, finding myself awake earlier than usual for a weekend, I rushed to make the pot of coffee and got outside early enough to see the sun come up, retracing the moon’s path of last evening. As that light filtered through the trees, I realized that fall color had come at last to the hollow. I took a walk around the yard, like I might have over the last few years with Gracie and Sofie, and captured some highlight shots of the trees, mainly dogwood and hickory.

Taking advantage of the colors for some tree identification, I picked out the brightest gold leaves, so finally I know specifically where some of my hickories are. Turns out that among these we have a couple of small shagbarks in the back, I am happy to know. The photo on the left below shows the trunk and bark - the photo on the right is a bitternut hickory, I think.

On a whim, I decided to set out for Shenandoah National Park for a short hike to enjoy some foliage, thinking I could get there, and maybe even get back, before too many day-trippers arrived. I chose Blackrock Summit, in the south district, as my destination – there will be a post or two to follow. The foliage didn’t disappoint any of us.

Now, with the sound of acorns and hickory nuts still falling out of the trees, punctuated by the periodic explosion of an apple falling with a loud pop from the tree in our front yard, I’m watching a squirrel set out on the tree limbs around the yard. They can traverse a full three hundred degrees here without ever setting foot on the ground, a fascinating thing to watch.

And at last, the sun is low enough that its filtered light no longer reaches me. There will be a last explosion of golden yellow light reflecting off the ridge line.  

Nuts and Berries

You know animals don’t worry
They’re living on nuts and berries…

Back in August, during the bike race, Mary and I took a short walk over at the Stanley recreation park. Like much of Page County, there are a lot of black walnut trees there – we even have a few around the Cabin. The trees appear to be the residuals from old nut orchards. Here is a picture of one of the trees, including a flock of geese overhead, and a handful of nuts I gathered off of the ground.

Last year, there was one of those historical pieces in the paper, talking about the old days, when the walnut harvest came around. The older kids were responsible for gathering the nuts. A brown dye was made from the sticky husks that cover the shell, and of course, the nuts were used for food. The story went on to reminisce about how all the kids would come to school with hands stained from the resin.

Flash forward to the present. Last week as I was driving into town on Ida Road, a nut fell off a tree and hit the car on the hood. I now have a nice ding, like you might also get from a hail storm, to show for my weekend activities.

Now we’re getting into fall, and the other nut trees are also dropping their fruit. We have a couple of different kinds of hickories scattered around the yard at Hawksbill Cabin – the nuts are everywhere, and you often can spot squirrels high up in the branches working them over for the fruit.

We also have a grove of white oaks in the front.

Their acorns are the big feed for all the wildlife, including blue jays – up in the trees, and on the ground – squirrels, and deer. There’s also a newcomer in the group, a bunny, but it stays in the backyard, where there is one very fertile oak, which the bunny apparently has to itself.

Speaking of the deer, our local herd has grown. There is an older doe with a fawn, and three or four other young deer, including yearlings from last year. The fawn has just grown out of its spots. I’ve also spotted a four-point buck wandering around with them. As I write this Friday night, four of them are grazing in the yard just below me. The buck is absent right now but was here earlier today.

The hickories and dogwoods are the first leaf changers in our yard. The dogwoods have their show on right now, while the walnuts have already lost many of their golden leaves. I’ve noticed there are a lot of dogwood berries this year – more than in our previous years here. There is also a large flock of robins, maybe as many as fifty birds, working these trees over. They’re not as noisy as the blue jays are, but they make a racket when they come to feed.

…They say they don’t need money
They’re living on nuts and berries
-Talking Heads, Animals

Fall Colors update - Leaf colors

Over the course of a couple of visits this Fall, I took a few phone cam photos of the leaves changing. Also, took a few more when I went out to the cabin to finalize some pool closing matters a few weeks ago. The trees that were already past their prime color changes by then.

This first one is looking up at the house from the road. I am not sure what kind of tree this is, but it had a nice yellow shade to it.

The next one is looking down at the house from the back of the original lots. You can see all the oaks in the front yard, just beginning to change at the time. As I am posting this, there are still a few leaves to come down from these trees.

The next photo is looking back towards the tree line behind us. There is a one and a half lot parcel that adjoins us behind the garage, and it has a mix of trees in it. Several hickories are in this shot, but there are a variety of others including oaks and walnuts.

Last one below, this little maple. This tree is the single biggest culprit for dumping leaf litter in the pool area. But it does put on a lovely fall display.

I have a small seed feeder in it for the winter, and during the summer it is where the hummingbird feeder hangs.

Fall Colors - Mums

Last month, as the Luray Farmers' Market was winding down for the season, Mary picked up a bunch of mums. She planted them in pots around the cabin, and had enough that they decorate the yard in Alexandria too. Here is a photo of the bunch of yellow flowers on the brick terrace, taken two weeks ago.

Some Fall Color

Here is a photo from down on the road looking up into the yard - the trees at Hawksbill Cabin have been changing colors, although the rain last weekend knocked down the brightest ones.

We'll have another look this weekend to check on the foilage.

Fall Flowers - Mums

Here are a couple of photos of the mums on display at the Heritage Festival last weekend. I remember how fast these were selling last year - and they certainly held their own this year as well.

Meanwhile, Mary has picked up quite a few from the Luray Farmers' Market - we have them planted out at the cabin as well as back home in Alexandria. We're going to miss them this weekend, but hopefully the ones at the cabin will be in full bloom the next time we are out.

Fall Flowers

Long ago – back in the Spring, I planted a small patch of daisies, zinnias and cosmos near the brick terrace. I marked off the little patch to protect it from footsteps during the terrace and pool work, but it seemed like forever until I got a few little sprouts. Now here there are, still blooming in October after the first flowers showed up in late August…so I am calling them Fall flowers – the first entry on this topic of the year!

Mary picked up some mums and daisies this at the Luray Farmers’ Market – here are the daisies, taking the place of my seedlings that never showed. As the mums come into color, in Stanley and in Alexandria, I’ll put up some photos.