We kept the hike short again today (Memorial Day) because of the heat and the mosquitos. Temperatures approached the high 80s today with a fair amount of humidity. And
the mosquitos were hardly better than two days ago. Gosh I miss winter. This is the first time we hiked in Stephens State Park. It's also the first time we ever stumbled
upon a snapping turtle on a hike. It's also the second and third times we stumbled upon a snapping turtle! Yes, we actually saw three of them, one bigger than the last.
The third was resting in the shade of our SUV at the end. We gently nudged him away from the car because he started to head under our car when we
started opening and closing doors, something he wasn't too keen on. Fearing I'd run over the poor thing, we finally got him to head away from the car back into the
searing sun. They are sights to behold, these snapping turtles, measuring over a foot in length with scaly tails and heads and jagged shells that made me feel like I
walked into the dinosaur age.
We parked at the somewhat large grassy parking area in the power line cut at the northern end of Station Road northwest of Budd Lake. We took the Green trail NE to the purple-blazed Fire Tower loop, missing a turn at one point before finally venturing north into a vastly overgrown telephone line cut where I managed to see a purple blaze on a telephone pole almost completely hidden by prickly vegetation. The blazing to the tower is poor and the trail is completely overgrown for the last couple of hundred yards. To add insult to injury (and yes, we got quite scratched) the tower afforded the least inspiring views I've ever seen from a fire tower. The blazes west of the tower were absent but we took the access road anyway (which turned out to be Purple after all) until we found the intersection with Green, where we made a right. It was my intent to take Green all the way back to the car (making a circuit) but I took the wrong left and ended up backtracking a good part of the Green trail in the powerline cut back to the car. Not a bad idea, though, since the mosquitos in the shaded forest were becoming unbearable. Total distance hiked today was 3.1 miles in 2 hours.
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Parking in the powerline cut |
In the cut |
Heading east |
Inside the forest |
Swamp |
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Stream |
Tiny red eft |
Laura dwarfed by trees |
Car remains in powerline cut |
View west in cut |
It rained this morning |
A rocky cut |
Helicopter overhead |
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Right under the lines |
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The first snapping turtle |
He was resting ... |
... in the mud |
Back in the forest |
Boundary walls |
Strange blue blazes |
Swamp |
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Now on Purple |
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Beautiful ferns |
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More boundary walls |
First glimpse of fire tower |
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Laura coming off overgrown Purple |
Laura out of the jungle |
Budd Lake from top of tower |
As far as one can go |
Boat in Budd Lake |
Laura on the tower |
Delaware Water Gap in distance |
Budd Lake |
Laura on tower |
Dan on tower [Photo by Laura] |
Our gear on picnic bench below |
Dragonfly at tower |
Putting on more bug repellant |
Laura and the tower |
Butterfly |
On Purple but we didn't know it |
Another eft |
Back in the ... |
... powerline cut |
Wildflower in cut |
Grasshopper |
Old something or other |
Entering the forest |
Garter snake |
Stream with Laura in rear |
Snapper number 2 on trail |
Getting a closer look |
A face only ... |
... a mother could love |
In powerline cut heading west |
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Arriving back at lot |
Snapper number 3 ... |
... in SUV shade |
Gently nudging him away |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |