Last weekend, my family spent the long weekend down in the Shenandoah Valley. Instead of skiing, we decided to hike up the mountain, and follow a trail along the mountain ridge. The view from up there was incredible, allowing us to take in the whole resort all at once.

In addition to a beautiful view, the mountain elements there were very interesting as well. We got to see the winter versions of many of the summertime plants and growths. The trees were covered with mosses and lichens, but instead of maintaining their usual color, they were pale, matching the surrounding snow and winter sky.

The trail was completely rock laden, necessitating that we watch our step through the snow to avoid slipping on any hidden rocks below.

Some greenery managed to show through the ubiquitous snow cover, such as the moss below. There was also some green mountain grass frozen in the snow.

As usual, there were many scenes that could easily be inspiration for an aquascape. The rock formations would make a lovely African cichlid rockscape. Can’t you just see the gaps being filled in with anubias, java fern, and bolbitus in the rocks below?

Speaking of ferns, I’ve always loved finding patches of forest that are covered with wild ferns. We saw a few places like that up on the mountain ridge, but unfortunately, they were all busy weathering the cold. I hope to get back to this trail sometime in warmer weather to see the ferns in their full glory.

There were also huge patches of mountain laurel in amongst some sparse pine trees. In combination with the rocks and snow, there were some really nice photo opportunities.

The mountain laurel still had the remains from some late flower buds or berries. The leaves were still green, and formed nice bushes along the path.

The rocks were usually set in relatively straight lines, as if something had slid over top of them in a uniform direction. I’m not sure if this is the case or not, but I suspect that this is exactly what happened with glaciers.

Finally, some pine cones were still on the trees, which I enjoyed taking pictures of.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures and tale of our mountain hike. It was quite cold (16F degrees), but we were heavily bundled up, and had a fantastic time.

We took advantage of the long MLK weekend to venture down to the Shenandoah Valley. On our trip down we stopped at Luray Caverns.

Luray Caverns is the largest caverns on the East Coast. It has been privately owned and operated by the same family since its discovery, and used to be a travelers’ destination and railway stop, frequented by visitors all over the globe. Unfortunately, due to private ownership, and a lack of proper preservation methods in place during the early days, the caverns are not completely intact.

They used to encourage visitors to break off stalactites to take home as souvenirs. As a result, many of the structures along the corridors are broken off. And then, of course, nature also broke off some huge pieces, such as the multi-ton piece shown above.

There are all sorts of structures that formed naturally in the cave. Many of the formations look as if they were handcrafted from plastic, but they reassured us that they with the work of mother nature.

Throughout the caverns, many reflecting pools reflect the ceiling, making for some very unique looking illusions, such as the one above. Again, it looks like something from another world.

One of the things I remembered from the caverns when I visited them as a child was the sunny-side-up eggs. This is another case where they broke off a structure, and the resulting inner core looked like a fried egg, so they added it to their tour.

There are some huge structures underground, such as this enormous tower above. I estimate that it’s probably 5 stories tall, and a very impressive feature of an even larger room.

Toward the end of the tour, they encourage visitors to toss coinage into their wishing pool. Yes, the pool is green from all of the copper coins. They say that they clean out the pool every year and donate it to charity. Despite painting a somewhat negative view of the Luray Caverns company, I really did enjoy our visit. The shear enormity of the caverns, as well as, the unique structures within make the trip worth it.

Back in June 2007, a few GWAPA members went down to Florida to see what kinds of plants/fish we could find for our aquariums. One plant that was absolutely everywhere was a Hydrocotle species that mixed into the grass of people’s lawns, and existed in virtually every roadside ditch we visited. I grabbed a small amount, expecting it to completely take over my tank.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. This small plant has been living in my 40G tank for over 6 months, while only throwing up a single new stem. Recently, I upgraded my lighting to a 2x96W setup from AHSupply and I’ve noticed that the Hydrocotle sp. has started to grow, sending up a new stem and leaf in just the last week. Right now, the stems are approximately 6 inches tall, which is slightly taller than I’d prefer them. I’ll be sure to post if it evens out, and becomes a nice accent plant in my aquascape.

Our area finally got some snow yesterday for only the second time this winter. The temperature barely stayed below freezing, but it allowed for 2-4″ of snow. I got home from work with just enough daylight to spend about 45 minutes photographing spots along the Little Patuxent River near my home.

I’ve been waiting all season for a good snowfall so that I could come out and take pictures of the river with snow-covered banks, rocks, and vegetation. I figured that I’d be the only one out on the trails, as it was sleeting when I was out there, but surprisingly, I saw joggers, dog walkers, and even a cross-country skier.

This was a very wet snow, so it stuck to anything and everything. Tree trunks were painted quite nicely with snow like the one below.

When first looking through these pictures, I was taken by how they look like black+white prints. I really didn’t desaturate any of them. The lack of green from the seasonal leaf drop, combined with the contrast of the bright snow to the darker tree limbs yields little color.

In many places the water seemed to be moving slower than usual, even though it wasn’t frozen hard. I’d like to say that it was like a moving slurpy, but I’d be lying. It’s more like a glass lake.

That said, some parts still kept their usual ripples and rapids. But, of course, the white precipitation made them even prettier than usual.

I’ve always enjoyed the first few hours after a good snow because the tree branches are completely coated with white. Then, as squirrels and wind breaks through the limbs, the original luster is lost.

I imagine this snow won’t stick around very long, as it’s supposed to get a bit above freezing this weekend. It’s the snow covered rocks in this picture that I really like.

Here’s a zoomed in shot from the same vantage point. I think I like this one better.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures, and hopefully if you got snow yesterday, you were able to enjoy it like I did, instead of being frustrated by the inconveniences it can cause.

This weekend, my wife and I made went hiking in Patapsco Valley State Park. We’ve been to the park before to see some small waterfalls, but this time that part of the park was closed, so we took to the forest trails. All of the leaves have now fallen, but this allows you to see the landscape better, and for longer distances.

From a distance, fallen trees in small valleys could easily be inspiration for aquatic hardscape. Even scenes that aren’t very interesting, still have appeal, if just for some awkward bending tree trunks like the ones below. On the trail, besides the occasional mountain biker, it was pretty quiet. We saw a few squirrels, and the occasional woodpecker searching for a hidden meal, but for the most part it was a nice quiet walk through the forest.

After a few miles, we finally came back around to find a cold stream flowing over river rocks. We took a minute to listen to the trickling of the water, and enjoyed the green of the evergreen beside it. I spend a good deal of time trying to create a beautiful underwater landscape to enjoy, that it’s easy to forget that free ones are all around you outside.

We’ve had some unseasonably warm weather in our region recently, but gradually the weather has been turning cooler this week. I know many folks enjoy year-round warm weather, but for me, I enjoy the cold winters, the seasonal change, and the landscape that changes with it.