A gentle rain was falling but we wore waterproof coats and the temperature was warm enough, above freezing.
Jeanne pointed out a colorful log...green lichen and brown fungi trimmed with cream.
Two weeks ago, the last time we walked here, the Ohio Buckeye tree buds were tightly closed but now they are opening. Their tiny new leaves are rosy now but will turn green as they mature.
There was enough water flowing over the falls to make a pretty picture. We have had a lot of rain lately. The river floodplains are full of water.
Just beyond the creek that feeds the falls, Jeanne saw her first wildflower of the season...Purple Cress.
At the bottom of the Thorny Badlands Trail, she spotted a spring flower that I hadn't seen at Garbry Big Woods a few days earlier...Dutchmen's Breeches.
The park staff has begun burning prairies, which is one of the maintenance tools for keeping the prairies in this park. If the prairies were not burned at regular intervals they would revert to woodlands since the prairies at Charleston Falls are planted prairies. Ohio has natural prairies but not at Charleston Falls.
As we returned to the parking lot, the rain was turning to wet snow. But, we had had a taste of spring and it is still March, that month of changable weather in Ohio.
What a lovely walk! I always look for Dutchmans Breeches but so far I haven't seen any in Minnesota...maybe someday:)
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