Colorful Walk

Multifloria Rose

Leo and Speck sitting in Mountain Laurel

Robins Plantain

Eastern Red Columbine

Cooling off

This is the time of year for flowers, color and a bit of heat. The Mountain Laurel is peaking this weekend, although not as good as other years will probably be around for another week or two. The Multifloria Rose, which I hate because of its ability to take over everything and make passage difficult, does smell good and adds a white blanket to the area. It serves to provide cover for the grouse, turkey and rabbits, keeping them safe from predators.

The Robin's plantain is about 16" to 24" inches high and varies in color from white to the violet fringed one I took a picture of above. I guess Speck didn't want to be left out of that picture and manage to be there at the right time. 

The last flower above is the Eastern Red Columbine and is very pretty its flowers are falling fast and I doubt you will see any more of these after this weekend. They aren't as plentiful as some of the other flowers but their red color is an eye catcher. 

On my walk this morning at 7:30 am it was already humid and getting hot. A bear was laying in the shade at the neighbors camp eating some handouts and didn't seem to be bothered by us passing on the road. I kept an eye on the dogs and made sure they didn't notice the bear. Speck the Chihuahua would have probably been the most aggressive about its appearance. Leo hasn't had good luck with bears in the past and doesn't care for them much either. 

By the time we finish 4 miles of walking Leo is exhausted and often jumps into the cold creek and lays down into it. He knows how to cool off fast. Speck has no interest in water especially cold water.

Keep an eye out for fawns they aren't as experienced with the road and are walking around quite a bit lately. Seems like we are moving into warm and wet weather for the coming week. Enjoy the summer. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Mountain Laurel time

Speck near some Mountain Laurel

Mountain Laurel Festival Wellsboro

The Mountain Laurel is a bit disappointing this year. It is seems slow to blossom and a lot scarcer than last year. I got Speck to pose a bit unwillingly next to some blossoms this morning which are just opening. Last year at this time everything was blooming a week earlier. I think the late cold weather combined with the on and off hot spells must have had some effect on the blooms.

I noticed the oak trees are being attacked by caterpillars and many half eaten leaves were littering my morning walk. The oak trees also took a hit with the late hard frost and now as they try to recover are being chewed up. I guess life for a plant isn't always easy.

Wellsboro had its annual Mountain Laurel Festival and it seemed to have a good turnout. People put their chairs out along the road for the parade up to 3 days ahead. I have to admit I have never seen the parade, but it must be popular to risk losing a lawn chair over. Lee and I tend to stay away from events that draw crowds and traffic. Guess living in the woods has lowered our resistance to noise and crowding.

We have had a lot of rain pushing Pine Creek up near 3 feet a few days ago and keeping it at a nice kayak and tubing level of 2.5 today. Once the creek drops below 2 feet you have to carry a canoe through some spots and lift your rear to keep from being bumped by rocks when tubing.  Low water gives a new meaning to having your "Hiney in the Piney". 

I have a couple requests from readers who come up: If you have seen "Snaggle Nose," this year let me know. If you have a current picture of him I will post it. Also our feral cat got neutered and shots this week. He doesn't stay with us for more than half the week and we are curious about where he goes. If you see him at your camp let us know. He has gotten quite friendly with us and is letting us pet him, hence why he got shots. I didn't want to risk him getting rabies or anything that would spread to us or our dogs. He didn't seem too upset about the operation and was coming up to us shortly after looking for food and attention. Since it takes about a month for his hormone levels to drop I am not expecting it to stop his wandering for a while. Hopefully, nothing will eat him now that we made a small investment in his health. I put links to pictures of both animals and the Pine Creek levels for your information. Enjoy your week where ever you are. We will continue our journey, lost in Leetonia. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bear Soup

This is what I am calling, "Bear Soup." This mess came about when I was asked to dispose of about 50 cans of old, outdated food. The cans are heavy when they are full of food, so I thought why not dump them out and then I just have light cans to get rid of. It is 25 miles to the dump so light and compressed is always better. Well, I never imagined that combining things like: cream of mushroom soup, pineapple, chicken soup, tomatoes, beans, gravy,pickles, and cherry pie filling could be so ugly and make you not want to eat for days. With only half of the cans empty I filled a large trash container half full with this soupy mix. I wasn't about to bring this anywhere near my house so I found a nice one foot deep hole by the edge of the woods and left it. I am guessing it won't last long. Hope we don't have a sick bear staggering through the woods after eating this Bear Soup.

On a much prettier note I took a few pictures of the Mountain Laurel blooming on top of Cedar Mountain. I didn't want to leave you with such a bad image. So dwell on these last two pictures. Heading to Rattlesnake Roundup tomorrow in Morris. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Snaggle Nose lives

Just got an email from a camp owner who has spotted "Snaggle Nose", the bear who about three years ago lost half his face in a bad fight. He is now closing on 600lbs. This big guy looks very mean with his permanent snarl look from his injury. So keep your camera ready and get a 2012 picture of him if you can and send it to me.
The mountain laurel is blooming great on Cedar Mountain and is quite beautiful. Looks like it may warm up for the Rattlesnake Festival in Morris, which is good news for the snake hunters. Most of the snakes have been hiding during the cold spell we have had last week and the warm sun will bring them out to warm up. I will be getting some pictures to share. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Mountain laurel and stray cat

The mountain laurel is starting to bloom early this year and it looks like there is going to be a lot of it. I am thinking the warm winter helped with the health of the plants. We have been getting a lot of rain on and off, which isn't good for all the outdoor painting jobs we have this summer. Hopefully, we will get some dry spells to get a few things done.
I had a call from Slate Run store today, Deb said a white cat was spotted up West Rim Road at a cabin just West of Fahneystock intersection. She said someone lost a cat camping last year in this area and wondered if this might be the same cat. The cat is now wild and hard to approach. So if anyone out there lost their cat contact me and I will give you specific directions.
Just got back from taking the dogs for a quick walk between storms and after I spotted a large bear in front of house heading towards Hooke's camp. We went the other way and the dogs had their hair up most the way. They don't like bears much and the bears feel the same. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

P.S. The bear came back to our house and he is a big one 4-5 hundred pounds. I heard a sound around 8pm near the porch. It sounded like a bird hitting the window. It wasn't it was Mr. bear who I have now nicknamed, "Trouble", gently unhooking a hummingbird feeder. I leaned out the door and yelled loud at the bear only 8' away and he took off down the road. The dogs were growling behind me so I let them out in the fenced area to add some barking to the mix. Lee walked out and saw him down the road to Hooke's camp. She gave him the what for and he turned to look at her and then ran faster. You don't want to upset the hummingbird lady. LOL.

Mountain Blanket

Mountain Laurel blankets the sides of Cedar Mountain with hues of white and pink flowers. If you have never seen the mountain covered in this flower this week is the time to see it. Soon the blossoms will fall and the forest will be green until fall color season.
Last week was the Mountain Laurel festival in Wellsboro. I ended up working through the weekend and didn't get a chance to go. But I get to see the flower daily that give the festival its name.
I count myself lucky to live up here even though the work is hard. My typical drive to work through the green forest watching the animals
cross the road is never disappointing.
During the weekdays I encounter few other cars. I saw Turkey, deer, grouse, and one very large bear.
Seems to be quite a few bear in Leetonia looking for a free handout from camp owners. I had to stop feeding the birds years ago when the number of bear in my yard day or night became a problem for my dogs. I never opened the door without looking first to make sure one of the bruins wasn't walking outside. They can be hard to see in the dark and they are amazingly quiet for such large animals. Fencing an area for the dogs to go at night is keeping my dog/bear emergencies to a minimum. Living with nature is a joy but also an adaptation to how you think about daily activities. Weather plays a big role all year. Any plans you make can be quickly changed by rain, wind, ice or snow. Respect for what the weather can do is essential to living as accident free as possible. Watching the sides of the road for the sudden deer or bear appearance keeps your vehicle dent free. Surviving the gravel roads effect on your car or truck is unavoidable. Tires, suspension, paint last half as long. Three ply tires last just about as long as it takes you to change them. I changed the first one on my Cruiser I picked up a month ago. A stone the size and shape of my index finger pierced the tire beyond a plug fix. I expect by the end of summer to have four upgraded tires as they all gradually are destroyed by the roads. Knowing how to change a tire is a basic necessity as well as having a good spare. In an average summer I fix about four tires between the two vehicles. Getting help could take you most the day. But I have noticed the vehicles I am getting keep having bigger and bigger tires. Lifting these on and off the vehicle is less and less fun. Course I could live somewhere with instant cell coverage and help....no it is worth the trade. I still love it in the mountains of Leetonia and I know I always will. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Mountain Laurel to mountain controversy

This sign was posted on the Watrous Bridge two days ago. A supporter of the gas well exploration contributed a little old time Burma Shave rhyme to the conflict between pro and con.
Although, the last part probably doesn't apply to the people who oppose it the most...the ones who aren't getting any royalties and have to deal with the mess.
On a lighter note I posted some pictures of the mountain laurel blooming on top of Cedar Mountain. Now is the time to get out and see it. I am thinking it may be past its prime by the time of the Laurel festival.
Guess the contrast between beauty and development will continue. The best remedy is to soak up the beauty.
Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

In the forest of Tioga

There is something special about the way sunlight filters through the trees of the forest. The harshness of the direct sunlight forms patterns on the road that can be almost hypnotizing at times as you wind around the mountains. Blue patches of sky show through the tops of the trees and it is always 10 degrees cooler than outside of the forest.
This weekend the forest hosted the annual car rally. An event that draws more traffic into the forest then it sees then entire rest of the year. It usually rains for this event, but this year the rain held off until late Saturday when it rained lightly. Sunday morning it poured. The water turns a milky brown running down the roads when we get a fast heavy rain There is a delay in the water filling small streams, then to the larger streams and finally to Pine Creek. Pine Creek was at 1.6 ft before the rain this morning and by 3pm was up to1.9 and climbing. Sudden hard rains can leave people stranded in spots on Pine Creek they thought were low and easy to walk across when the water level makes it there. One person told me they had walked across Pine Creek and noticed the water starting to change color. By the time they realized the water level was rising it was too late to go back across. They ended up walking some distance to find a bridge to get back to the other side.
The Mountain Laurel is absolutely beautiful this year and I hope to get a few more pictures of it while it is in full bloom and color. It's not an every year event to have it this nice. If any of you get a chance to come up in the next couple weeks you will get a treat of color. In some places it almost looks like snow between the trees blooming so white.
We had company over the weekend and spend a few days taking care of them and not working so tomorrow it is back to work to feed the mountain girls and their dogs. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Mountain Laurel and Snakes

Looks like the Mountain Laurel will be great this year everywhere except where the Forest Fire burnt it, between Fahneystock, Mine Hole and West Rim. It seems like it has been a long time since I have seen this much color this soon on Cedar Mountain.

The Morris Rattlesnake Roundup is this weekend and they had quite a crowd today. I don't know whose child this is touching the rattlesnake, but I do know my daughter would have nightmares for weeks thinking about it.

This little girl had no fear petting the snake while
the bitting end was inside a plastic tube. They don't get the snakes out much, but when they do it is a treat for those who would never get such a chance to interact with these amazing reptiles. The snakes are injected with a microchip and their length, sex and other information is recorded. They are then released back where they were captured. Many times the same snake makes repeated trips to the festival in following years.

A prize is awarded for the largest yellow-timber rattler and the largest black-timber rattler. In the wild these snakes avoid people and for the
most part avoid confrontation. This does not mean that people aren't bitten. In fact, last year, a man in the Slate Run area was bitten when he moved a skid a rattlesnake was under. He walked a mile before being taken to the hospital and faired fine.

The last picture is the case they keep the snakes in for people to see as they visit the festival. Next weekend is the Mountain Laurel Festival for those who prefer a different kind of beauty. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.