Lyme Preserves
Posted By auntie on July 7, 2015
6.5 miles; lyme, ct
well i finally got back here, and boy howdie, am i glad i did. i was last here in october of last year, and i didn’t get to see much. yesterday i had the time to visit as long as i wanted. lyme preserves is exactly that—a series of small land trust preserves with an interconnecting trail system. the trails are gorgeous, and very clearly blazed, and well-maintained. there’s some elevation, too. the link at the bottom of this post includes a description and a map.
from where i started, the pickwick preserve at the southernmost point, the trail goes pretty steadily uphill for at least a half mile. it also travels through veritable oceans of ferns. at times i felt like i was wading through a soft green sea. it’s really quite an experience.
and the fungus! i think this is going to be a banner year for mushrooms in the woods. i simply couldn’t stop photographing all the many kinds i saw.
i came across a patch of milkweed where the trail crosses a field, and it was just covered with fritillary butterflies. they are related to monarchs. didn’t see any actual monarchs, but i’m not sure it’s the right time of year.
did i mention the mushrooms? soooo many mushrooms. i could barely, at times, take in my surroundings i was so focused on the mushrooms at my feet.
pretty sure these were oyster mushrooms, and if i had a way to separate them from the black trumpets i collected, i would have collected these, too. and had them for dinner like the black trumpets. used this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/wild-mushroom-risotto-recipe.html.
you don’t often see this fern in the woods. i love its interesting black stems, and the way it forms a whorl as it grows.
this is another coral mushroom, and it looks like it could be on a reef somewhere. amazing color.
and yes, i did occasionally look up from the forest floor to take in the sights.
one large swath of the mount archer woods preserve was filled with maple sap tubing. the sign said the proceeds mostly go to the land trust. very cool.
there’s much more of this trail system i need to see, and i hope to get back here soon. you can find this hike in the hikefinder. trailhead (actually 183 joshuatown road; looks like a private drive, but the trail head is about 1/2 mile or so in from the road), trail map courtesy lyme land trust.
Wow, I’ve never seen the purple coral. Clearly I have to get into the woods and do some fungi viewing.
i know, right? there were a mess of these where i saw this one. amazing color.
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