Prince William Forest March 2009
signs of early spring
It has been a long time since I have been to my old stomping ground, Prince William Forest. With the first official day of Spring on March 20th I wanted to get out and experience nature as it starts to come alive. Around my neighborhood trees are blooming along with all sorts of other plants in peoples yards, the grass is actually growing again too. I was looking forward to those same signs of Spring in the forest. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed by what I found.
The birds are definitely back in town, but not much else. Most of the trees have yet to bud and wild flowers are non-existent in the forst. One bright spot was the weather, it turned out to be a great day for hiking. Just the slightest nip in the air, but after a half mile or so, the blood started flowing and I warmed right up. All I needed was a nit hat and I was good to go.
a field of grass
On this trip I hiked down the old Pyrite Mine Road across the Quantico Creek, then up the North Valley Trail to the Quantico Falls Trail. This brought me back to the main road for a short walk back to my car. Most of this route follows the creek which provides great background noise while I walked. The forest was still except for the birds signing and the creek flowing in the background. The recent rain fall added to the flow and level of the creek. Now and again I would head off path to take some photos. One placed I hiked to was an open field with waist high grass and small grooves of young pine trees. While walking along the trail I spotted this little area and was determined to explore it. In fact it took a some effort to make it across the creek and over to the field.
I was hoping for more signs of spring on this hike, but I guess it is a little to early for the forest to be in full bloom. I will certainly have to try again in a couple of weeks and see how things have come along. I believe that next week I will travel to the Tidal Basin in DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. The cherry blossoms are suppose to peak between April 1st and the 4th, providing some spectacular shots. So I might not be able to get back to Prince William Forest till the week after.
So here’s to spring! I am so glad it is finally here, not get out there and get a little nature on you.
