Short Springs

On the 30th of March, while the weather was cool

and overcast, we made our first visit to the Short Springs Natural Area. The trail is easy, and divided into several segments and loops which allows the hiker to easily to the entire trail, or gain access to just a few sections. On this occasion we hiked almost everything. Beginning the trail by heading left, we quickly reached the branching off point for the one section of the trail we did not do. Instead, we headed straight, which led us to a beautiful stream flowing through the forest. The area was cool and wet, and on some nearby rocks were were fascinated to find 5 separate types of moss growing intermingled in a small area. Moving on, we soon rejoined the main trail and beyond that reached the sudden descent of the trail at the falls.

In the perfectly flat bottomed area below was the short flower trail. As we worked our way down to that trail, we stopped to photograph some of the many flowers which were in bloom. When we finally reached the bottom we paused to identify a still blooming blood wart, when a gentleman who had been photographing introduced himself. Now, I am sorry to say I have already forgotten his name, but I have not forgotten that he told us he had worked on this wildflower book. He immediately established himself as our guide, and took us all around the trail, and off of it, to show us various trillium, Virginia blue bell, trout Lilly, blood wart, anemone, and many more. There really is a great deal of wonderful flowers to see here, even if you don't have your own personal guide.

Finally we bid our goodbyes, and we turned ourselves in the direction of the sound of falling water. Just around a bend in the creek, and across a few stones was the falls. Returning to the trail, we explored among the wild flowers some more, and discovered a tiny snail, on a stump newly gnawed by a beaver. Continuing on the trail we soon reached the point where it turned and looped back to the parking lot, but we decided to push further, along the back loop. Unfortunately, the falls at the end of this trail turned out to be completely dry despite the recent rain fall. The remainder of the walk back was less notable than the journey out, especially since the trees have not yet begun to have leaves. Remarkably, we saw no animals in the area, save some roosting vultures. All in all, it is a very nice trail, with interesting water features and flowers, all along an easy path.