Trip Report

Views From Mount Sugarloaf (Massachusetts) on a Clear Day /  by Todd Henson

A wide view from atop Mount Sugarloaf in Massachusetts

In early October my folks and I travelled to Massachusetts for a family reunion. It was a fairly short and busy trip so I didn’t create many photographs, but we did drive to the top of Mount Sugarloaf which is within the Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation in South Deerfield. There’s an observation deck up top that provides quite a view of the surrounding area. On that afternoon there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, allowing a clear view as far as the eye could see.

The photo at the top of this post is a 13-image panorama showing what I thought was an attractive piece of the view, with the Connecticut River and some patches of more colorful foliage towards the right, and some taller buildings in the distance to the left, with mountain ranges in the distance.

The photo below is looking down on Sunderland and the bridge over the Connecticut River. You can see little pockets of colorful foliage here and there, but it was still mostly green. This view is further to the left of that of the opening panorama.

Sunderland, Massachusetts, as seen from atop Mount Sugarloaf

And finally, below is the widest view I captured. It is a 27-image panorama. I handheld the camera, oriented it vertically and slowly rotated, pressing the shutter at overlapping intervals to capture as much of the area as possible. It’s quite a view. Towards the right you can see larger patches of colorful foliage, and all the way to the left you can see the church in Sunderland. I wasn’t quite able to capture the river the entire way over, largely due to poor handheld panning technique.

A very wide view from atop Mount Sugarloaf in Massachusetts

If you ever visit the area and decide to drive up to the observation deck do be careful. The road can be quite narrow with periodic wider spots where a car can pull aside and let those going the other way pass. It was a bit nerve racking. 🙂 Also, there is a fee and they collect it up top just before the parking area, so be prepared for that.

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A Return Visit to Voorhees Nature Preserve /  by Todd Henson

The entrance road to Voorhees Nature Preserve. There’s only a very small amount of parking, so plan accordingly and arrive early.

It’s always nice returning to a location, getting to see how it’s changed and what else it has to offer. Several months back, in early to mid-July, my father and I visited Voorhees Nature Preserve and enjoyed what we found enough we wanted to return, even after being chewed on by chiggers. This time I learned my lesson and put on some bug spray before we entered the woods, though it is getting cool enough bugs should become less of an issue until spring.

I will warn you up front, the majority of the photos I created during this trip were of fungi growing along the trails. But keep reading and you’ll see a couple other species (some that move) and a view of the Rappahannock River.

Tis the Season for Fungi

I loved this view of the small mushroom

We couldn’t believe all the mushrooms we found along the trail. It was almost impossible to walk the trail without stepping on some of them. And there were quite a variety, as well. Unfortunately, I’m not yet very good at identifying fungi, so I’ve done the best I can with some of the variety here, and I welcome any corrections or additions if you’re more experienced with these species.

We saw several bluish-purplish mushrooms, ones I don’t remember seeing before except in other folks photos. I believe they might be viscid violet cort mushrooms.

A mushroom and an acorn. This might be a viscid violet cort mushroom.

I’ve no idea what species the mushrooms below are, but I was fascinated by how they were growing around the fallen pine cone. And if you look very closely you might notice they’re even growing out of the pine cone.

A pine cone planter

I love pine forests. The forest floor always looks so beautiful with all the dried out brown pine needles fallen from the trees. And apparently, some mushrooms enjoy the nourishment, like this grouping of what might be downy milk cap mushrooms.

What might be downy milk cap mushrooms growing from a bed of pine needles

I don’t know what the species below is, and I didn’t do a good job of photographing all the mushrooms from multiple angles to assist with identification. Sometimes, as in this instance, I just photographed what caught my eye. And here it was the underside of the mushroom showing off all the gills.

Viewing the gills

Most of the mushrooms looked somewhat soft. But the mushroom below was an exception, sporting a shiny top that appears a bit more rigid.

This darker brown mushroom has what appears to be a harder shiny top

Another mushroom found amongst the pine needles was the orange-brown mushroom below. There were several in the area with another out of focus in the background.

An orange-brown mushroom growing through the pine needles

And speaking of orange, that’s exactly what caught my eye below. I saw that little ball of orange almost completely hidden from view. I don’t know what it is, but I do wonder if perhaps it’s a Caesar’s mushroom just emerging from the ground.

Could this be a Caesar’s mushroom just emerging from the ground?

Below we found a grouping of mushrooms that look almost slimy. They were growing out the side off a cut tree beside the trail. Could they be golden pholiota?

Perhaps a group of golden pholiota?

Below is another fascinating fungi, this time growing as a ring around a branch. There were several layers of it, and I loved that green ferns happened to be in the same area.

A fungal ring

Perhaps the most unusual species of mushroom we saw, at least to us, were the bluish ones below. They just didn’t look right. They almost looked as if they might be infected with something else causing that bluish color. But after a little research I wonder if these might be indigo milk cap mushrooms. One of them has a small slug feeding from the top of it.

A small slug feeding from the top of what might be an indigo milk cap mushroom

Blue and green

And the Frogs Were A-hoppin!

An Eastern cricket frog on a leaf

On our last visit we were amazed by the numbers of small toads along the trail. They were like the mushrooms during this trip, all over the place and a challenge not to step on. We didn’t see nearly so many this time. And to be honest, I don’t know for certain if we saw any. Most of what we saw was very small and hopped away before we could get a good look. Because of how far and fast they hopped I suspected they might be frogs, and when I got home and looked closer at a couple of the photos I believe at least some of what we saw were Eastern cricket frogs. I didn’t manage to get a single photo of a frog that was fully in focus. It was somewhat dark in the woods, and I was handholding the camera. I could have done better with the mushrooms if I’d used a tripod, but a tripod wouldn’t have worked with the frogs. There were just too skittish.

Great Big Orange Spider

A marbled orb-weaver, also known as a pumpkin spider

Viewing the marbled orb-weaver from the side

Spiders are all over the woods, sometimes making their webs right across the trail, leaving them for us unwary hikers to walk right into. But in this case, thankfully, the large web was just to the side of the trail. I noticed it because of the spider right in the center of the web, with a large orange body and black markings on its back. This is a marbled orb-weaver, sometimes called a pumpkin spider because it can resemble a pumpkin. After I’d gotten a top down shot I worked at getting as close to the side of the web as I could without hitting it so I could capture a side view.

The River View

Overlooking the Rappahannock River

Last time we visited we took the pond trail. This time we opted for the river trail. It started out very level, but later took us downhill to a small, almost dry, creek. We laughed that it must be the river view the sign out front had advertised. But we kept walking and eventually the trail turned to the left and began going steeply uphill. When we reached the top we saw the first overlook of the Rappahannock River. You can see it in the distance, as well, as it winds back and forth. We both thought it might have been nice if we’d arrived maybe a week or so earlier to get a little more color in the trees across the river, but at least there was still a little to see in late October.

Highlight: SNAKE!

A garter snake on the forest floor

One of the highlights of this trip for me came very near the entrance on our way back out of the preserve. I was down on the ground photographing a mushroom when I noticed an interesting pattern just beyond. When I looked more closely I realized I was right next to a garter snake! I know this is a somewhat common snake, but I get excited anytime I have the opportunity to photograph snakes in the wild, and I thoroughly enjoyed the brief time we spent with this one. As you can see they blend in fairly well, even when in the open as this one is.

In this photo the snake is a bit agitated, and none too happy with our presence right near it. While trying to get closer with the camera the snake actually struck out at me and I was surprised by its reach. I also noticed it flattened its head making it look perhaps a little more like a viper, hoping to scare us away. It was also very actively flicking its tongue trying to get our scent. I was very happy to have captured this in the photograph. After spending a brief time creating some photographs we went on our way, leaving this beautiful snake in peace.

So what did you think of our return trip to Voorhees Nature Preserve? We had a great time and hope to return again. The river trail is actually much longer than what we hiked and we’d like to hike a bit more of it at some point.

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First Visit to Voorhees Nature Preserve /  by Todd Henson

Instead of a hike my father and I decided to take a short day trip down along the Northern Neck of Virginia. We’d expected to just drive around and perhaps stop and check out a few locations for future exploration, but we ended up spending more time than expected at our first stop, the Voorhees Nature Preserve, a great little location managed by The Nature Conservancy.

Intro to Voorhees

Voorhees Nature Preserve is a fairly small tract of land 729 acres in size. It’s easy enough to get to, though parking is limited, so be aware you may not find parking if you arrive at a popular time. In our case we were the only visitors, which is always nice. There is a single trail heading away from the parking area and into the woods. It’s a reasonably wide and level trail and because of this we decided to walk down it a ways and see what we could see. We’d not really planned to hike, but why not get a better feel for the location? The weather was nice and there weren’t any crowds.

The trail entering Voorhees Nature Preserve

We visited a day or two after some heavy storms had moved through the area, and not far in the trail turned into a small pond, completely submerged in water. But before turning around we noticed how there was a side trail that appeared to move around this section, which made us think this area is often muddy and water-logged. Unfortunately, as is common in these sorts of situations, there were plenty of insects flying around us, many being mosquitos. Because we’d not planned a hike we hadn’t thought to bring any bug spray.

Even before entering we found this tiny mushroom near the parking area. It’s likely some species of amanita.

We continued along a couple more short detour trails before the elevation went up enough that the trail remained dry, at which point the trail split. To the left was a trail to a pond and to the right was a trail to the Rappahannock River. For this trip we chose the trail to the pond. One day we hope to return and try the river trail.

Toads Along the Path

A young Fowler’s toad that almost appears to be attempting to hide under a small tree sprout.

The first thing we noticed after taking the left trail were the huge numbers of very small toads all along the path. We must have passed dozens and dozens of them and had to be very careful not to step on any. They were hanging out all over the leaf strewn trail and started quickly hopping away as we approached. Because we’d not expected to hike I’d only brought along my wider angle lens, a 16-35mm zoom. But here we were with some great little macro subjects. Thankfully, this lens has a reasonably close minimum focusing distance, so I bent down and did my best to capture some photos of the toads, getting within a foot of them when they’d let me (many wouldn’t). I did also see a small frog, but it hopped much faster and further so I wasn’t able to photograph it.

A small toad atop some bark and leaves.

A more colorful tiny toad, almost orange, easily blends into the leaves.

We were fascinated by the coloration of some of these toads. Some were more brown, others more orange. And yet I believe they were all of the same species, Fowler’s toads. It’s possible some may have been Eastern American toads, as it can be a little difficult (for me, at least) to tell the difference when they’re this small and haven’t yet fully developed some of the markers that differentiate them (numbers of warts on spots, size of warts on the calf, spots on their underside which I can’t typically see when they’re this small).

A tiny orange toad. I was fascinated by the color schemes of these toads.

Another tiny toad, this time perched atop a small fallen limb.

Near the pond, though, we did see what I believe to be an Eastern American toad, this one an adult. Look closely at the first photo below and see if you can locate the toad as I first saw it, hiding in one of the hollows of the tree roots. I then slowly moved up very close, hoping it wouldn’t disturb the toad. Thankfully, it patiently allowed me to get right up in its face and create the second photograph. In that one you can see some of the spots on the underside which lead me to believe it’s an Eastern American and not a Fowler’s toad.

Look closely. Can you find the toad?

Why hello, there! It’s what I believe is an adult Eastern American toad, hanging out on the tree.

Ghost Pipes Peeping Up

A small cluster of ghost pipes, a wildflower lacking chlorophyll.

I stumbled upon a single grouping of wildflowers on the trail, ones I don’t see all that often but that’re very distinct from most. In fact, they doen’t even look like flowers but more like fungi of some sort. The reason is that ghost pipes lack chlorophyll and thus are white. They don’t use photosynthesis, instead drawing nutrients from the soil and a particular fungi they have a parasitic relationship with. They may not be the most attractive wildflowers but they are fascinating. And they’re sometimes easy to overlook as they often rise right out of the leaf little, as these are.

Favorite Find: Red-spotted Newt

A first view of a red-spotted newt on the trail.

My favorite find of the hike was a small red-spotted newt resting on the leaf litter on the trail. This was beautiful timing as I’d just been telling my father the previous weekend how much I’d love to find and photograph some salamanders or newts, that I’d never found any while hiking. And here we found one right on the trail.

I moved as close as my 16-35mm lens would let me while still staying in focus, which was within a foot of the newt.

Not having run into this species before I wasn’t sure how fast they moved, and being used to lizards I was worried it would quickly disappear. So I started photographing from far away, which made the newt fairly small in the frame at only 35mm. But I slowly moved closer, lowering myself down to the ground, leaning the camera on the ground and inching closer and closer one little bit a time, hoping to get very close without disturbing the newt. Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. And when it did begin moving it was pretty slow, so either they are slow moving creatures or this one just wasn’t very bothered by us. I have much research still to do on these beautiful little newts. I hope you enjoy these photos. I was so very excited to create them, and hope one day I’ll find another when I have a longer focal length lens with me.

The red-spotted newt turned and began very slowly moving off the trail.

A final side view of the red-spotted newt before we moved on and left it in peace.

Peering at the Pond

A view of the pond from the end of the trail.

We knew we were approaching the pond because we began to see more light through the trees up ahead and to the sides. And the trail began going down hill at a somewhat steep decline, though thankfully not too steep for us. At the end of the trail was a small wooden bench, as there had been in one other location between the fork and here. The water level appeared low but I don’t know what it typically is. There was plenty of greenery down at the surface and we watched as birds moved around down there. We saw a couple belted kingfishers chasing one another. After a short rest here we headed back to the car.

Lesson Learned: Chigger Bites ITCH!!!

When we were back in the car and driving away I mentioned to my father that one of the things I disliked about hiking trails with lots of flying and biting insects was how I always felt little small itches all over afterwards, likely a psychosomatic effect. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized this time wasn’t psychosomatic at all. I found bug bites all along my ankles and up and down both legs, around the bottom of my stomach and my lower back. I counted over 50 bites, and let me tell you each one was itching worse than most of the mosquito bites I’ve had. I did a little research and learned I’d stumbled into a batch of chiggers, little tiny mite larvae too small to see. When these bite they inject digestive enzymes into the skin and slurp up the slurry that forms, kind of like spiders do, which makes sense as both are arachnids.

Thankfully in these parts chiggers are just an annoyance. They apparently don’t carry disease the way mosquitoes or ticks do. But in return for that their bites itch more and last longer. Beautiful compromise, right? I’ve included a couple photos of one ankle where there’s a small cluster of bites. These are fairly small. Many of the bites further up the leg were about twice the width of these. The first photo shows what they looked like the day after the hike, when I first noticed them. And the second show what they looked like 4 days later. By the 4th day they looked worse but didn’t itch as much. Now, a week later, the bites are still very visible but slowly fading and no longer itch. To lessen the itching I tried medicated calamine lotion first (ingredients: calamine 8%, pramoxine hydrochloride 1%) and this seemed to help. Then my father found another itch cream that worked really well (ingredients: diphenhydramine hydrochloride 2%, zinc acetate 0.1%). I put it on in the morning and at night.

Chigger bites on my ankle the morning after the hike. They’ve begun to itch like crazy.

Chigger bites on my ankle 4 days later. They itched like crazy for 2-3 days, but by the 4th day they looked worse than they felt.

So what was the lesson I learned from this? Keep a bottle of bug spray in the car, not just in your packs that you might not bring along on “non-hiking” day trips.

Despite the run-in with chiggers I had a great time hiking the trails of Voorhees Nature Preserve and I’d very much like to return and try the other trail. I’ve no clue whether seeing toads is a common occurrence here or whether we just happened to arrive at the right time to find all these toads scattering and going their own way. But I’m glad we saw them all, and that we ran into the red-spotted newt. Even without these things it would have been an enjoyable hike, but with them it was even better.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at our first trip to Voorhees Nature Preserve. Do you have any small nature preserves near you? And if so have you visited them? If not get out there and check them out (but bring some bug spray! 😁).

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