Since my last visit to Lone Rock, many, many things have changed. First and most obvious was part of the lake freezing over! This was so beautiful to experience from the height of lone rock and the comparison between frozen and unfrozen lake was amazing. The large rocks at the edge of the water also looked quite sublime with ice lining their sides and I felt as if I was in Alaska or Antartica. The deciduous trees had completely lost all of their leaves, and stood bare. Pools of ice puddles amidst the cracks in the rock were completely frozen over, and snow filled the smaller cracks and lined the forest floor. When I sat still on the cold rocks, I heard not a noise, and meditated peacefully on top of the cliff, the frozen lake many feet beneath me. I also saw no single insect or other living being, just their tracks in the snow left behind.
There were a couple of instances of animal tracks that I noted. The first one (the photo with disconnected oval-like shapes ran deeper into the forested area of Lone Rock. I think the steps were from a diagonal walker, and were about two inches long. (A deer?) The other set of prints were along the edge of the man-made trail. They reminded me of the raccoon bounder tracks we viewed in class.
As I was leaving my site, I saw, in the distance, a small black figure. At first I thought it was someone’s small dog, but it wandered without a leash beneath some rocks on the edge of the lake. I couldn’t get close enough to see the animal, but I had a clear view of the tracks, the most distinct wild animal tracks I’d seen all week! My phone died due to the cold so unfortunately I couldn’t take a picture. The prints were about an inch long. They looked liked those of a bounder, and my guess is that it may have been a mink. I am completely unsure though (however I did find that minks can reside along the edges of lakes).
The photos of twigs I identified were those of an Oak and Shagbark Hickory. Most of the other trees there are conifers (cedars and pine). The twig sketched I at first assumed to be a buckthorn, as it was in an area concentrated with other buckthorns, but the bud didn’t fit the buckthorn image. I couldn’t seem to figure out what species this bud is, however I plan on continuing my investigation and updating this blog once I decipher it.
I missed Lone Rock! Every time I visit it, its natural beauty and grandeur surprises me.