No worries though. I am catching up and will post more interesting stuff on here shortly:)

A Secret Lake

One goal of this little trip was to release some red spotted newts kidnapped from a lake a few months earlier.  These lucky little girls will be going back to the exact same spot they were taken from.

Something very important as rescued herps will unlikely survive if released if a different place than where they came from.  (Even distances of less than one-half mile may mean the difference between life and death.)

As soon as the girls were released into the water, several males found them interesting and began to mate with the newcomers!

I lazily watched the amphibians for a while.  A northern watersnake slowly swam along the shore, his head held up like a little periscope.  Thankfully, he ignored the newly released newts.

The snake serpentined away from shore making tiny wavy ripples through the water and disappeared from sight.  Dozens of tiny fish began leaping into the air near where I had lost sight of the snake.

This was a perfect time of year to visit a forgotten lake. Bees, moths, butterflies, and other nectar loving insects buzzed among the lemon yellow flowers surrounding the calm water. A very strange dusting of pollen collected along the banks.

I stayed several hours, but had to move on.

I needed to get a bit down the trail before setting up camp at dusk.

What is the fun in that?

Taking chances is what makes life rich.  I learned something from trying to do something and failing.  Maybe this is what happens when you get older. You actually learn something from being stupid. Although, trying to bike to the inaugural in freezing weather wasn’t stupid.  I was unprepared.

I have spent too many hours indoors and have not acclimated to the chilly DC winter.  How could I possibly expect to bundle up and go outside at 6 am?

When I worked outside at the zoo, I would be unphased by low temperatures.  I was outside all year, gradually acclimating to the climate as the seasons changed.  Now, I take animals from a heated room into a heated car and drive to heated buildings.

Yeah, I used to be tough

I feel saddend to have become so soft, and Boring!  What a slap in the face these outdoor adventures have been.  I used to be tough!  Yes, I have always been a bit cold-blooded, but never to the point where I couldn’t take it.

In addition:

Gone are the defined muscles on my legs and arms.  Carrying heavy reptiles is far different from doing heavy farm work all day.  I used to walk 8-12 miles a day at the zoo!  I might not have time for a three hour walk every day, but something is better than nothing.  So now I am throwing a pack on and going for a walk.  Stop me.

Ten minutes into the ride, I knew something was wrong.  This is the point in time where your body warms up and your cardio is in full swing. I was not feeling any warmer.  My fingers were tingling with the familiar pins and needles pain multiplied a thousand times.  I constantly wiggled my fingers as my legs pumped up and down on the pedals.

I could no longer feel my ears as I expected.  Then, I sped through a stop sign, unable to operate my breaks.  My hands were completely numb, unfeeling.  I turned around to let my bike slow down on the hill I had just descended.  Twenty minutes back to the house where warmer ski gloves sat on the dining room table.  It would be worth it.

Back in my neighborhood, I made a wrong turn down a very familiar street ending up at a busy intersection I should never had seen this morning.  I was becoming disoriented and making stupid mistakes, one of the symptoms of hypothermia.  Hypothermia at that stage takes hours to develop, but I wanted to take no more chances.

I got off my bike in order to keep my body moving while going down hills and to give myself a chance to evaluate where I was going in the dark.  My thighs, chest, and upper arms were beginning to feel warm.  Was I sweating?

Back at the house, it must have taken me a full five minutes to get my keys out.  Visually guiding the digits I could no longer feel.  I managed to clumsily get the door open and my bike inside the house.  My whole body felt like it were on fire!

Thankfully, I had a husband who confirmed that I was ice cold all over.  Ski-gloves or no, I would not be going back out.

Over a month of excited planning had been halted due to cold temperatures and lack of proper gloves and cold weather acclimation. It was ten degrees colder than the weather guys predicted the night before with a windchill bringing the temperature to 10 degrees.  On the bike, the increased windchill would make it feel like single digits.  Its a good thing my fingers went numb that close to the house.  I am not sure what I would have done if I were already well on the bike trail.  An hour and a half in the cold on the way to the city easily would be enough time to lower my core body temperature to severe hypothermia.

I am not sure what I have learned from this yet.  It was not my first time riding to the city, a mere 16 miles.  I never had done so in such cold!

Big changes came to pass on this historic day.  Maybe I need to spend more time outside…

So, THAT is why I did not make it to the inaugural on the mall.

I am lucky enough to have a camera and a bicycle at hand.  DC is providing a free bike valet at the Jefferson Monument!

If all turned out well. The map below shows approximately my route. If not, never fear, pictures after.

Inauguration Route

How about:

• empty campgrounds
• empty park for that matter!
• cool temperatures
• low humidity
• gorgeous views unobstructed by foliage

The cypress knees huddled in lonely groups emerging from imposing inky black water in crisp winter air. Delicate lace of Spanish moss draped itself in sheets among the naked branches.  The feeling was surreal.  I found myself wondering if I may have been wandering among alien life forms on a strange planet rather than an earthly swamp.  Where was the oppressive weight of the moisture laden air, the smell of decay, the unbearable heat?

A fantastic array of strangely shaped fungus clung to trees of monstrous proportions.  Congaree National Park hosts one of the last old growth forests left in the United States.

Here you will find pines, cypress, tupelo, and congaree in proportions matched only by the likes of the California Redwoods.

Sometimes when the wind kicks up, a few of them will try and kill you by falling across the trail directly in front of you.

A creek, snap, crash a tree assassin!

Aaron got to test a new toy on this trip.  A MSR Minworks Sweetwater filter.  Would you drink this water?

Blackwater is delicious.

We had many adventures in the swamp.  (one a bit more harrowing than I would like): Read at ReptilesAliveBlog.

Thankfully, they all ended with a view such as these:

I really should go on more hikes during the cold months. With the leaves off of the trees, new expansive views reveal themselves through the naked branches.

To get to this perfect view of the river, a bit of decision-making had to be done.

Should we turn back now?  What could possibly be ahead?

The path narrowed to a thin sliver just wide enough for a single hiker to place her shoes side-by-side.  Luckily, there were many boulders large enough to scramble along for the short span of trail that was washed away.

The winter views were spectacular, but do not forget the other things that reveal themselves in the absence of foliage.  Visit Great Falls National Park.

Mushrooms covering an entire tree.

Driftwood quietly rocks in the gentle edges of the river

Bark peeled away in an arching splendor