Rising to the WNY Hiking Challenge

There is a Western New York hiking challenge afoot in Buffalo -- afoot, get it? And my friend Barbara and I rose to it.

Today we went on our first hike, at Tifft Nature Preserve!

Barbara and I are new friends in the grand scheme of things. However we have certain things in common, one of which was, both of us wore sneakers today on our hike. Sneakers! Her friends are laughing at her right now on her Facebook page.

We are having one of those mild winters we get from time to time, and Tifft's trails are awash in mud.  We were like princesses trying to pick our way around this mud, treading on grasses and these tall cattails which thanks to my Seek app I now know to be the Common Reed.

So illogically wearing sneakers was one thing. Another was our shared preoccupation with the Wyeth art family. The conversation was always turning to Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth and the great, the one and only N.C. Wyeth.

Andrew Wyeth would have loved this landscape!

 

Or better still this one.

 

Slogging through the mud in our sodden sneakers, we paused to contemplate that.

Funny, we thought it would be easy. We went in laughing, la la la la la la. I mentioned the sneakers. Did I also mention I was coming directly from church? And so I was also in a dress and carrying a purse. 

Every hike in this challenge has a landmark, something you have to find and take a selfie with. We found the landmark easily, although it did take some muddy walking to get there. The landmark was called the Peninsula. Here I am at it.

We did not know at that point that our adventure was just beginning! 

We saw trees that reminded us of the Brothers Grimm. N.C. Wyeth would have liked these trees! They would have fit in well with some of his illustrations.

At one point, it began raining. That happened to be at a discouraging point, when we were trying and failing to figure out the map, so neither of us mentioned the raindrops. And after a while they stopped. 

Next came a light hail. Again, we ignored it, and again, it stopped.

Twice, to avoid a river of mud, we had to thrash through a forest of Common Reeds.You would think they could have sent us on an easier trail however they did not. It had to be this trail. Ha ha ... Barbara began singing "It Had To Be You," to the trail. That was a song we would return to several times.

Trail, it had to be you!

And so we just charged into the reeds, going for broke. The reeds were taller than we were and we were afraid for a while we would not come out. 

However we lived to tell the tale. And this is it!

Out in the parking lot, we greeted a big group of ladies heading into the park, and sure enough, they were also on the hiking challenge. Ha, ha! Lots of luck, ladies!

It is funny, something like this, it just takes you out of your life. Mass that morning felt like a different lifetime. Also, I had completely forgotten it was New Year's Eve. It was like going into a time warp.

That is what's called an adventure.

We can't stop laughing about it!

Spotting the Spotted Turtle

The other day I wrote about snapping the Snapping Turtle.

Today it is all about Spotting the Spotted Turtle!

I went to Tifft Nature Preserve after Mass on Sunday. I like swinging by Tifft after church because the Outer Harbor is just over the Skyway from St. Anthony's. It is thrilling at Tifft to walk those wooden walkways over those swamps where God knows what goes on. One Sunday a few weeks ago we saw snakes! Another girl there pointed them out to me.

"They are so gross!" she shuddered. And I agreed.

That did not stop me from trying to get the snakes' picture for my Seek app however it was not to be. The Seek app, as I have written, is finicky.

Which brings me to yesterday, Sunday. I was at Tifft and now I am canny, I am alert for turtles. I spotted one at a distance however it was not close enough to get a picture. Then, heading over one footbridge, I saw the handsome chap at the top of this post.

Looking at him now, he looks like a Painted Turtle. However the app was having none of this turtle -- amazing, considering how much better photo could I have taken? I took more and more. 

These are just two of many pictures I took. It grew maddening to tell you the truth. The app kept sniffing that no, it could not identify it. It was some species of Box Turtle, then it was simply an Animal, and so forth.

I did get into conversations with sympathetic Buffalonians and one gentleman told me there were more turtles to be seen up the way. I went where he suggested and that was where I found this specimen.

The app ate this one up right away and said it was a Painted Turtle.. 

So I went happily on my way. Although I had affection for that first turtle.

Later on yesterday, I re-submitted to the app a couple of pictures of that first turtle. That worked before, with the Snapping Turtle. The app finally reconsidered and identified that photo I took, which, come on, was excellent.

This time the app, after a bit of back and forth, relented, and barfed up that it was a Spotted Turtle.

I looked up Spotted Turtle and to my distress I found that it is rather rare, and threatened, and endangered. Sure enough, on my app, it said that there were only four other sightings in the area.

This seems to be a bit of beginner's luck I am having in the turtle department. I hope some of that luck rubs off on this cute Spotted Turtle. It is funny, I found myself thinking about it later, pondering the Spotted Turtle and its plight, hoping that the species would rebound and flourish.

Another picture of my new friend.

I hope I will see him next Sunday!