A Short Fall Hike

Well, now I am two hikes behind again, so time to get cracking.  This hike, to Cumberland Marsh Natural Area, occurred on November 18.  My original intentions were to do a 10 mile mountain hike. Everything was packed and ready to go.  The day was perfect.  But I got up, looked at the sports page, and realized that my college team - Villanova Wildcats - were playing basketball on TV that Friday afternoon.  So after some deliberations, I decided to have the best of both worlds - a fall hike and basketball!

Cumberland Marsh is a beautiful stretch of the Pamunkey River and surrounding forest.  The last time I went, it was warm weather and I was besieged by deer flies and some ticks.  It was cooler this time, and I didn't have that experience.  I photographed some birds for my iNaturalist project, and just took a short, slow walk of a couple miles.  I saw a mature bald eagle, and that was the highlight.

At the start of the hike is a short boardwalk with a view of the river.  I'd hoped to see some ducks but didn't.  You can also canoe and kayak here.

 I saw two nice butterflies - this variegated fritillary and...

this buckeye.

Fall was still very much in evidence here three weeks ago.

I sometimes like to look at individual leaves, and I found these to be rather striking:

My hike was too short, and I was tempted to stay, but I had not gone to the mountains for a reason, so I went home to watch the Wildcats take care of business against the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest on TV.

My next hike was a week after this one, on "Black Friday."  But I am going to call it "Black Bear Friday!"