Thursday, May 14, 2009

From the Blog... to the Bog (SWF)

It’s the places, small in name, immense in value, that intrigue me.
Places like fens, and bogs, where the lives evolved within are rare.
Worlds unto themselves,
remnants from ages past--
these are true treasures to explore.


The Cranberry Glades sit high within the Allegheny mountains of the Monongahela National Forest, bounded as a bowl at an elevation that allows this rare community, resembling arctic tundra, to exist as far south as Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

The Bog Plains

A cranberry hides within

Within its 750 acres, dense stands of Red Spruce and Hemlock interrupt the broad, rosy bog plains of prostrate cranberry vines and bog rosemary, a woven, 10-foot deep peat base, their anchor.

False Hellebore, Veratrum viride



Quiet pools of dark, water, lumps of felled trees at their edges, sprout glowing patches of marsh marigold and false hellebore, the pleated leaves playing with shadows on a bright and sunny late April morning.

Marsh Marigold, Caltha palustris


From a boardwalk protecting the fragile, acidic ground beneath it, I watched as a small gray bird announced his territory’s edge—the sun on a bare branch from within the cover of dark evergreen, illuminating his raised golden crown.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, buried in branches

And, minutes later, my first Blackburnian Warbler, throat glowing orange, the same thick green woods, home to him, too.

Eastern Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus

Golden mounds of carnivorous pitcher plants, dot the sun-filled plains.
Skunk cabbage unrolls its first small leaf.
And, soon wild orchids and sundew will be visible here.


For one day, we were all in one place.
Bloggers to the bog— treasures wonderfully remembered.







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22 comments:

Deborah Godin said...

Lovely description of such important lands! And a fun pictue of the boggy bloggers...

Eve said...

What an interesting location! We had a bog area near my last home with walkways and skunkcabbage throughout. It's amazing how much growth and life is taking place in an area like that!

Pearl Maple said...

Beautiful collection of photos from your hike, what a lovely place to admire all that nature puts on show. Thanks for sharing with sky watch friday.

P-TER said...

Lovely pictures!
A dream place.
Gr.
P-TER

Guy D said...

Great shots from your hike Nina, thanks for sharing.

Have a great week
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I think Cranberry Glades was my favorite place. Very, very special.

erin said...

so enjoyed your tour of the bog for blogland...a fascinating place.

and the false hellebore with the sunlight shining on it...beautiful as are the marigold.

Sylvia K said...

Thanks for taking us along on your hike! Great shots! Great, informative post for SWF! Have a great weekend!

bobbie said...

We also hve a near-by bog. I love to explore it when I can.

Isn't the marsh marigold gorgeous?

fiziskandarz said...

the trip sounds relaxing + fun + with very very beautiful scenery! :D

Janie said...

What a great place to explore for plant life and birds. Beautiful.

Unknown said...

Great photos of a beautiful part of nature !!

I really like your description of what you saw..

The bloggers look as though they are having fun !! :-)

Arija said...

Sheer magic, takes me back to my sub-arctic childhood. What a wonderful time you all had together with so much beauty.

Kathi said...

Boggy bloggers! (Or, bloggy boggers?) Either way, it was a neat place, tho I feel as though I missed a lot.

~Kathi

MaineBirder said...

Very nice post and beautiful images!

Terrence said...

Nature at its best...Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!

Small City Scenes said...

What a wonderful bog to visit. Super shots and great info. MB

Bj said...

Great shots! Thanks for sharing them and info! The hummers in the nest is unreal neat. Love it.
Bj
White House, TN - USA

Kathie Brown said...

What a wonderful crew! What a wonderful place! I love the photos of the false helibore which you captured so perfectly. I didn't even look at them so I totally missed those gorgeous pleated leaves. Nina, this is what you do best!

poefusion said...

Your Bog Plains picture makes me long for the mountains back home (Paintsville, KY). I love your words. Each post brings new life to nature's habitude. Thanks for sharing. Have a nice night.

Glennis said...

You found lots of interest within the bog, thanks for taking us all with you.

http://www.wildramblings.com said...

I was surprised to see this collection of plants that far south! What a wonderful place to visit. Nice, nice photos.

Bill, www.wildramblings.com