Sky Meadows State Park

Adolescent Eastern Box Turtle /  by Todd Henson

Our first view of an adolescent eastern box turtle

My father has great eyes for noticing interesting things on the trail, and while hiking Sky Meadows State Park in Virginia he saw a young eastern box turtle right on the trail. We could easily have stepped on it if he hadn’t noticed it as soon as he did.

Getting closer to eye-level with the young eastern box turtle

Unfortunately, right after he noticed it we heard what sounded like the barking of a dog not too far ahead on the trail, and we had run into some hikers with their dog when we first set out. So I quickly got down and attempted to capture a number of photos of this beautiful turtle from several angles. Then I did something I rarely do as I hate directly interfering with nature. I picked up the young box turtle and gently placed it in the brush a little ways off the trail hoping it would minimize the risk of dogs finding and injuring it or of hikers accidentally stepping on it if they didn’t see it.

Getting a front view of the young eastern box turtle.

Not long after I moved the turtle a single person came down the trail and walked by us. We stood by the turtle for a little while in case a dog showed up so we could keep them from sniffing around the turtle, but no dogs showed up. We then wondered if that person had been practicing his dog calls. :-) Either way, we walked on, leaving the young eastern box turtle in peace.

Looking down on the young eastern box turtle shows the beautiful patterns on its shell.

This wasn’t the youngest turtle I’ve ever seen, as I my father and I have seen a newly hatched snapping turtle walking on the trail towards water. But this was certainly the youngest eastern box turtle I’ve seen so far, though I don’t know how old it is. Look at the bright and beautiful patterns on its shell.

I tried to help the young eastern box turtle blend in to better protect it from whatever might be coming down the trail.

Do you have any box turtle stories to tell? I’d love to hear about them.

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Tree on a Hill /  by Todd Henson

A View From Sky Meadows /  by Todd Henson

A View From Sky Meadows, January 2022

In mid-January of this year my father and I made the hour or so drive to Sky Meadows, one of the state parks in Virginia. We’d intended to hike some of the trails but after setting off we quickly realized it was far colder than we were comfortable with because of the bitingly strong wind and below freezing temperatures. So we turned around and headed back to the warmth of the car.

Before leaving we drove over to the other side of the park, near the visitor’s center, situated with a view of the valley and the mountains in the distance. It’s a very nice view, one I’m always drawn to, and yet I’ve not created any photographs of it that really work for me. But I did want to share that view with you so you can see it’s potential. And because that day, even around 10:30 am, there was some interesting color in the sky. Makes me wonder what it might be like earlier or later in the day.

The scene shifts throughout the year. Below is another photo I made of the same scene but from a slightly different location, with a different lens, and at a different time of year. The photo above was made in mid-January, 2022. The photo below was made in early October, 2011. I’d love to see this scene when the foliage changes.

A View From Sky Meadows, October 2011

And to give you an idea of the larger perspective, below is a 10-image stitched panorama of a larger part of the scene from January. You can see there’s still a little bit of snow remaining here and there.

A panoramic view of Sky Meadows, January 2022

Comparing these now I do think I prefer the perspective of the 2011 photo which was created out behind the visitor’s center. The photo from 2022 was created on the road leading to the visitor’s center.

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