Welcome back! Zach is happy to have been able to return to Red Rock for more phenology posts. He was very curious to see what the landscape would look like after returning this January, particularly with snow on the ground. However, the few days before he went were not as snowy as he would have preferred, and he went when it was only a bit snowy. That doesn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the winter sights, he found it especially interesting to see the trees once painted with yellow maple leaves, now bare like bark towers.
As he traveled further up his path he began to notice that many of the locations stayed fairly consistent, if not covered in snow on occasions. He also found it quite fun to slide on the icy paths frozen over by the melted snow and colder nights.
The ice, he found, was by far the most interesting part of his experience. They made pillars off of small cliffs and dense waterfalls which even when in areas lacking the expected snow made this feel like a wintery whimsey.
All of these were points of interest, but none compared to his phenology spot. After multiple slippery falls and a few tempting cliffs (to look over, not to jump) he made it to his spot. And as he expected it wasn’t very different from when he left it. This was due to the amount of evergreen there was at his spot, from the mossy base to the cedar trees and the ferns surrounding it, he didn’t expect all that much ton have changed.
However, there was one aspect that was different, the berries which used to fill the cedar trees around the area were now littered across the ground. This was interesting for him to see and an unexpected change in an otherwise unchanged area of greenery.
Perhaps this was because they need to plant in the winter to sprout in the spring, or they get carried by birds migrating south to spread their influence. Either way Zach found this to be a very interesting visit to his spot. He didn’t experience too much else while there, just sat in his wet moss of a spot and experienced how wet everything was.
Overall he found this trip to be just as wonderful as it usually was, if not cold. But he had a great time and will be happy to return the next time he goes to red rock.