Ranger Walk

Last Saturday morning (Happy Birthday, Uncle Zach!), we tried a community activity that was new for us: a morning ranger-led walk through one of the nature preserves in the area. Every Saturday morning, a different parks-owned space becomes the site for an educational tour guided by one of the rangers of the local parks & recreation department, and each week they focus on a new seasonal topic. The walk we happened to join was called "early blooms," at the Cooper Mountain Nature Park, a gorgeous mountaintop (for once the name doesn't lie--it actually is on top of a mountain) full of trees, shrubs, rushes and even a wetlands. Our group gathered at the state of the art barn/activity center near the parking lot, with some hardcore birders and horticultural hobbyists in the bunch who were equipped with binoculars and pocket-size notebooks to jot down the names of the plants we encountered.
WE came prepared with our own gear: layers for Alton...

and a backpack in which I could carry him.



It's been awhile since he's ridden around piggyback-style, but I keep the backpack in my car for just such an occasion as this. When the ranger warned us ahead of time that the trail could be a little steep in some places, we saddled up.
The upside was that it was a beautiful day that got warmer throughout the morning, the trail was picturesque, and the walk was good exercise. The downside was that there were so many early blooming plants to show us that the ranger's "walk" consisted of trotting at high speed about 50 feet down the trail, then stopping to speak to the group for 15 minutes. Alton and the two of us were left way in the dust during the brisk pace down the trail, then the little guy would get thoroughly bored at all the standing around admiring the quarter-inch white petals of the slender toothwort (no, I'm not making that up).

Eventually we had to excuse ourselves from the nature discourse and head back up the trail to the playground that Alton had spotted when we first arrived. Along with a small jungle gym and sandbox, this park boasts a structure created to look like the skeleton of a covered wagon, complete with steps leading up and down from it and bench seats inside and up front. Alton could have stayed there all day.






Before we parted ways with the nature walk, Andy was able to capture some bright and lively pictures of all the flora we encountered. Enjoy!

This yellow one is Oregon's State Flower, the Oregon Grape.


These neat little beads are actually on a branch of poison oak. Yikes!

The little droplets on each leaf were too perfect!