Esopus Bend Nature Preserve

Today, Marie and I took a hike that was more like a "real" hike. We'd been concerned about getting in a lot of mud with the rains, so we've mostly stayed on hardened trail. But today we were more adventurous. We've hiked here together before, but not since 2012! Marie hikes here a lot because it's a good conditioning hike near her house.

Just a reminder- New York is not Michigan. Of course I love that there are rocks.

We did the loop with the biggest hill twice. Just to make us feel "at home" on the trail, this part of the hill has lots of roots.

Part of the trail is along Esopus Creek. I choose to show you this part at the bend, where there is a nose of rock that comes down to the water.

This was the place where I first learned about oriental bittersweet, an invasive that chokes entire trees. I've shown it from other locations many times, but it's still here.

Just a hint of spring- the skunk cabbage was up in the low areas. We found a bit of mud, but didn't get into anything too awful.

We even saw a lovely fungus- cinnabar polypore- which I've encountered a few times, but not too often.

We got to watch this guy for quite a few minutes. I do think it's a male because it's mature but rather small.

And this is fun! I also saw this plant the last time I was here, and after some checking today came to the same conclusion I did 14 years ago. This is lesser pyrola or lesser wintergreen, Pyrola minor. It's related to shinleaf which is more common. Here are the leaves.

And the dried fruits from last year.

What a great hike! And I'm not super tired. I feel as if I'm starting to get in shape. It was in the mid thirties, but not windy or damp and clammy, so it didn't feel nasty. There was even a little sun.

We managed to make this take quite a bit of time what with fooling around to look at things. We did odds and ends in the afternoon and went to a Scout fundraising dinner in the evening.

Miles walked in 2026: 92.9

Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, Ulster County, NY. All miles except the Meadow Paths. Some twice. 5.1 miles.

See Amazing Oriental Bittersweet See Lesser Pyrola

I Like Bright Colors

 
I really light bright clear colors. Sometimes I think I'm a little confused, though, because I love Impressionistic Art, which mostly features effects of light and soft colors. But, when push comes to shove, in clothes, decor and whatnot... I like the bright primaries and secondaries.

The first picture I took while on that walk in the rain on Saturday. This was just about the only bright spot I saw- maple leaf against a sedge.



My kitchen windows are filled with blue glass (mostly cobalt blue).



Today, I finally learned what the vines are that grow high in the spruce trees beside the alley at work. They are American bittersweet. Easy to tell when you can bring the fruits close with a camera lens.



Tomorrow is the biggest day at work. All those Black Friday ads go out the door. 20 inserts in the daily paper. We've been running packets all week. Stay tuned.

	See American Bittersweet See Blue Glass
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American Bittersweet

 
Here's American Bittersweet, Celastrus Scandens, which is much more common than the alien Oriental Bittersweet.



It's often prized for the ornamental value of the seeds in the winter. It is pretty! However, it's also quite a pesky vine. It can overrun everything in sight, killing trees and covering buildings.



I was happy to find a nice patch of it today to add to my photo pages at Shark Shots

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Amazing Oriental Bittersweet

 
Here's another leftover from the New York trip. Marie wanted to show me some fantastic vines she had found. They were curling all over the woods, and each other.



When the vines got large, the bark broke into clear diamond shapes.



I had no idea what it was. I kept trying to find some leaves that actually went with the vines. I finally found some way up high. The camera helped me pull them closer.



They weren't any help. With a bit more hunting we found some leaves closer, and discovered that the plant was actually in bloom. Here are the little green flowers.



I was totally mystified. I didn't even know where to start looking! Thanks to the internet, searching for large curling vines soon led me to the answer.

This is an alien bittersweet, Celastrus orbiculatus. Sometimes it's called Oriental or Asian bittersweet. In the fall, it will have the orange fruits familiar on the native bittersweet. But the problem is, it will grow all over anything, even large trees, and strangle them all.

Bet I won't forget this one!

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