Glen Rouge Campground

May 5th 2018: Second time, we hiked with Kelly Kettle.
We planned to go to Orchard Trail but lost our way and ended up at Glen Rouge Campground! Why the h$%^ don't we use the GPS?

Here are a few photos of today's hike. Amazing weather and relaxing fun, walking the short trail, making noodles on the Rouge river bank on the Kelly Kettle stove after gathering firewood and birch bark(birch bark is supposed to be good to start the fire)

The green  'Rouge' river!

Human hands, not nature had piled these pine cones ...I wonder why?

'Not-green-evergreen' in the park. Are these yellow needles young budding pines, or diseased, dying ones ? I saw yellow pine needles on only two trees and wondered why they were yellow. The  yellow looked lovely against the blue cloudless sky...I hope the yellow is of new birth and not death

Above  are footprints of animals on the banks of the Rouge. Below is poop of animals near the banks of the Rouge. Footprints and deer poop was the closest we got to seeing wildlife on this walk!

 Pine on trees and pine on the ground

I have read in news that 'the riverbanks were washed away in the rains.'  Now I actually saw it! 
I had walked here exactly two weeks ago and so much mud on the riverbanks had been washed away. Today I could not as it had been washed away in last week's heavy rain. Another difference I saw was many fallen trees, which were standing around, 2 weeks ago. 

 The 2 photos on top were taken from the bottom and the photo below was taken from the top

 Wordsworth wrote a poem about Daffodils. Someone should write about these cute dandelions

Below are 4 photos of still water right by the Rouge river, filled with algae. The blue in this water is the sky above

The photo above reminded me of Shakespeare's Ophelia. I think it's because I have seen lots of paintings of Ophelia in this sort of water.

I kept trying to avoid the sun's reflection in this photo. As I kept moving away from the silver orb's reflection with my camera, the silver orb kept moving along and into the photo frame!  
What is this phenomenon called? 

What caused these perfectly round holes in this fallen tree trunk? Woodpeckers? Termites? Something else?

Above are three types of wild flowers I saw on the forest floor. 

What made the tree's trunk open thus? 

I collected the broken glass in the river ...walking for  about twenty or thirty feet along the Rouge river banks, I found this much broken glass. 

Delicious noodles cooked by husband on the Rouge river banks! He's not keen on 'daily' cooking at home. But loves cooking on his beloved(new toy!) Kelly kettle, in the wild. I sat and read my novel, roamed around taking photos, while he cooked. 

Snow on the ground, when we hiked here exactly two weeks ago in the picture below. 

A nice way to spend the day. Back to rain and cold again tomorrow Sunday!