Sunday, May 30, 2010

Birding and hiking Shenandoah

When we get the chance, hubby and I like to spend a day driving on the Skyline Drive and hiking on the trails in Shenandoah Nat'l Park.  So, yesterday we left early in the morning and returned after the sunset. The skyline drive is a great place to see the black bear, we lucked out and saw a medium size bear crossing the road in front of us. I love seeing any kind of wildlife and seeing a bear is really exciting to me.





After a 2 1/2 hour drive we were happy to get out of the car and take a hike. Our first hike was on one of my favorite trails called the Limberlost trail. It is an easy 1.3 mile hike consists of  a gravel pathway and some boardwalk. It is lined with beautiful mountain laurels, they were blooming beautifully with white and pink blossoms. The deer practically walked right up to us, which was great for photos. The area was once known for the beautiful Hemlock trees mostly gone now due to an imported insect called the hemlock wooly adelgid. Limberlost trail seems to be an appropiate name for this trail. There are still lots of trees and the mountain laurels and wildflowers are plentiful.


                               I think these are wild pink azaleas



The wildlife is a big attraction for me, not only seeing bears is exciting but the deer, birds and butterflies are wonderful. After the hiking the Limberlost trail we drove down to the Big Meadow area. which has a nice camp store and restaurant for a quick bite before we went on our next hike.


Some of the birds seen, id and pictured in my mosaic are the Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Phoebe, Scarlet Tanger. The deer is one that walked up to us on the Limberlost trail. I am not sure of the Butterflies and the tiny blue moth was beautiful.


After our lunch we decided to do the hike called the Stony Man nature trail, which 1.6 miles and a gradual climb to the second highest peak in the park. This trail leads to a wonderful vista of the Shenandoah Valley. Along the trail we heard many Eastern Towhees, Vireos and was able to catch some glimpses of the beautiful Scarlet Tanager.


If you click on this photo you can see some of the Skyline Drive way in the distance.


Part of the scenic view from the Stony Man Peak

I am combining memes with this post and will be joining Mary's Mosaic Monday and That's My World
Thanks to Mary for hosting the fun meme Mosaic Monday and thanks to the hosting team of That's My World. Also, thank you for stopping by to see my blog and post.

44 comments:

  1. Eileen: What a great place to explore, your photos are just beautiful.
    BTW: I was in central Mexico at Leon and Guanajauto.

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  2. I love your photos Eileen. They are beautiful.


    Blessings,
    Vickie

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  3. Hi Eileen
    You had a great place in nature to hike. I'll bet you could have stayed a long time to photograph even more wildlife.

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  4. What fun to hike in such beautiful country. Great pictures of nature and more nature. MB

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  5. Seeing a bear just might scare me! I sure do enjoy your mosaics and photos! Kind of like hiking along with you!

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  6. Pure heaven. What a beautiful drive.

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  7. Eileen,
    What a wonderful place to explore! I don't know where I'd look first!!!! So much beauty to see. Thanks for taking us along.

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  8. I would love that walk, your pictures are amazing. Have a wonderful week.

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  9. Your shots are great.

    I think the deer and bear are so charming... Love those telephoto lens dont you? ;)

    Have a great holiday.
    Claudia

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  10. What a beautiful place to roam and enjoy seeing all that wildlife and beautiful vegetation. Your mosaics are fabulous!!

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  11. What lovely trails you walked! The photos have captured such beauty. ::Jill

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  12. Great shots and what a fabulous place to explore!

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  13. Thanks for sharing this delightful day with me.I enjoyed the scenery.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  14. What a spectacular place to spend the day hiking! I wish my left knee wasn't so cranky -- I'd be tempted to hike, too. And there have been a few black bear sightings in my little town recently. We are living in their territory, after all.

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  15. Beautiful images of nature. Very lovely and colorful.

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  16. Fabulous shots from your hiking - love the road/bridge in your photos. Really takes you into the scene.

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  17. How exciting that you got to see a bear. Looks like you had a wonderful day and were able to get some great photos.

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  18. Hi Eileen
    queste foto sono meravigliose :-))
    Happy day.

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  19. What a wonderful trip you've had, and to share this journey with us is a blessing.

    Beautiful nature!

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  20. Gorgeous photos and place!
    Happy MM!

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  21. Hi Eileen,

    What a wonderful way to spend a day, hiking amongst such beautiful surroundings - thanks for taking us along!

    Amanda

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  22. I love your place, so good for a hike.

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  23. What a lovely nature's hike! The mist in the early morning is magical!

    P.S. I have read and seen posts about Big Meadow.

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  24. So pretty. I want to go there now.

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  25. Hi Eileen, what a beautiful post and entire blog. Thanks for stopping by so I could get a look at your beautiful work. Sounds to refreshing and healthy to be outdoors as you describe. We love to watch the birds but only from our back deck. Neither are up to hiking these days. Blessings
    QMM

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  26. Hi Eileen! Wow, I'm so impressed with your adventure. You must be the most fit one! What a beautiful place you were in and the pictures of the birds and deer - gorgeous. I would be so excited and probably a bit scared if I saw a bear! :)
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  27. Thank you for taking us with you on this wonderful look at the wildlife in the mountains. Such a great time of year to explore.

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  28. I do love it when you share your world with such great mosaics! They're delightful! Such a beautiful place, some much wild life and I love the mountains. Wonderful trip! Have a great week!

    Sylvia

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  29. What a beautiful place to hike, wish I had been with you. We drove the Skyline drive once but it was too foggy to enjoy the views.

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  30. Wow, wonderful Mosaics. We have never gone hiking but have driven along skyline. Thanks for mentioning those two trails. We never know where to go hike. I would love to see the birds and animals. It is so relaxing. Keep you flag-a-wavin'! Joan

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  31. What a beautiful post. I love your collages.

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  32. Beautiful nature mosaics and shots. It must be incredible to see all that wildlife so close.

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  33. What a beautiful drive! I have never been to that part of the country, but now I really want to. Your mosaics are lovely!

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  34. What a wonderful way to spend the day! Your photos are supurb and I always love your mosaics. Thanks for taking us along.

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  35. What a wonderful place to explore, enjoy and photograph. Great shots and thank you for sharing all the wonders.

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  36. SNP is a national treasure and one of my favorite places to visit. Thanks for reminding me that it has been too long since I have been there. Your photos are beautiful!

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  37. What a beautiful day you had! Wishing you more days like this.

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  38. I love your mosaics Eileen, what a good idea to show what wonderful diversity of plants, animals and landscape you have in that part of the world.

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  39. What a beautiful place to hike! We love the National Parks and perhaps we can visit Shenandoah the next time we're back east. You really captured the essence of the hike through you photos, now I want to check it out for myself. Have a great day!

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  40. Dear....very nice shots...i like the photo of the road...love it
    nice day, dear


    http://graceolsson.com/blog/2010/06/alexander-the-boy/

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  41. Beautiful layouts of the mosaics. The scenes are so breathtaking as well.

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  42. What fun you have on your hikes. It sounds like you saw the bear from your vehicle. Is that right?


    Your photos and collages are beautiful!

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  43. Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing. :)

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Have a happy day, Eileen

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