April 23rd at Shimek -Beauty and Surpise

Along the Trails on April 23rd
We have been in luck---there have been several April days dry enough for open trails at Shimek.  Marsha and I rode on April 23rd for a couple of hours.  By careful selection of trails to ride - by Marsha, we did not encounter any bad muddy places along the trails. As she rides, she has been making note of the locations of downed trees that must be removed at the May Volunteer Group Work Day.  

Despite the chilly cloudy day, the spring wildflowers are already making quite a show.  The redbuds are even giving a cast  of pink and promises of beauty to come in a few more days.  First of all, the serviceberries are blooming sprinkled all along the trails and through the woods--from shrubs 6 or 8 feet tall to loosely limbed trees of up to 30 feet with white blossoms quivering in the wind. See photo ----

Dutchman's breeches

The forest floor is just beginning to erupt with flowers.  Right now the Dutchmen's breeches are everywhere--waving in the breeze above the green fernlike foliage. (Sorry--no morels in sight.) 



False rue anemone

Also sprinkled all along the forest floor are false rue anemone--blooming later than usual.  There were also occasional spring beauties and one lone blue bell with its flowers showing more pink than blue at the moment but promising that there will be more blue bells later for us to see.  The blue bells do grow almost in the trail --so you'll have to watch to not let your horse step on them.

Despite the volunteer efforts already by Ringo and Brenda Covert and Marsha and Bob Achenbach, beer cans have once again been "sown" by the trail by a few trashy riders. 
More to do that should not be necessary on our work day---but we'll need to pick them up to better enjoy the scenery by the trails.  See you there on May 14th!

The best surprise of the day ---see below!

Lower Campground April 23rd - Old Horse Stall being Replaced 

Forester John Byrd and his DNR Crew are already beginning work on replacing the old horse shelter with a new, covered one.  The old stall was removed on April 23rd, and the pad cleared off---ready to begin construction!  DNR has provided funds in the Shimek Forest Campground budget to allow John and his crew to replace this old horse shelter at the lower campground.  The DNR crew will do the construction of the new shelter----as well as this de-construction of the old one.

Not often a bit of plain cleared ground looks so good---but this is step 1 in replacing that old decrepit horse shelter at the Lower Campground with a new covered, safer, shelter by John Byrd and the DNR crew.  Great news!