A Day of Hiking Along Monocacy Creek

Yesterday was gorgeous outside! Despite feeling like we both were either getting colds, or possibly allergies, we headed for the great outdoors to get fresh air and sunshine! It was a perfect day!

Reflections on Monocacy Creek

 The water was flowing, if a bit lower than normal, and the sun was out in full force. It turned out to be warmer than we expected, but along the creek, there's a nice coolness to the air.

Patterns on the water

 I love how the water brings the fall-colored leaves to a point, and the ripples look like a woven pattern. There's so much to inspire out here in the woods!

 I love how the sunlight sets off the "fur" on this wild grass! Looks electric! There was other electricity to be found out in the woods today, too... check this plant out!

It had dark purple berries on it, too. I don't recommend eating them... but they sort of look like they'd be delicious, right? Or possibly hallucinogenic! Ha ha! There are still a lot of flowers blooming in Bethlehem right now. Here are a few more that I took pictures of because they were so pretty....

Hummingbirds like these!

These smelled lovely!

 There were butterflies fluttering by, and we even found a butterfly cocoon! It was well-camouflaged, but didn't escape my eye! Luckily, it was along the trail, or I would never have seen it. Check it out!

Butterfly cocoon

 Finding the cocoon was extremely exciting for me, because I have been looking for one for a while now, every time we'd go for a walk. Yesterday, along the creek, I happened to see this plant and said to Keith, "I think this is the type of plant that butterflies cocoon on..." and pointed almost directly at the cocoon!! It was almost unbelievably coincidental! I think I had help from the Universe, but who knows? It was amazing! We also saw some cool crickets... We also saw a hummingbird here, getting nectar from those orange flowers. It was after this leg of our day trip that we decided to head home to get water and change into shorts! The next part of the hike was on a different section of the Monocacy, which I will share with you, too!

Green cricket

Lost one of his back legs