Elks Preserve is located on Crusher Rd in Hopewell.
Link to the trail map.
I rarely see the sky so brilliant blue as I do in the winter season. It was 25 degrees F when my friend and I met at the Elks Preserve in Hopewell, but the wind was still and the sun was strong, so it did not feel nearly as cold as it actually was. Even though it was freezing, the birds in the forest were raucous and exuberant in their singing. I don’t know why they had ants in their pants, but they were making such a fuss that it had us both excited to head out into the woods.
The contrast between the dormant forest floor and vibrant blue sky was enticing. It was as if the forest was whispering to us to come in and explore.
When I saw this plant covering one section of the forest floor, I was completely stumped! It seemed similar to an Eastern Red Cedar or an Arborvitae, but not quite so. I spent a lot of time reading online and searching through my plant ID books before I narrowed it down to a species in the Diphasiastrum/Lycopodium genus.
I am fortunate to know people with expertise in identifying the local flora. I reached out to a local expert, Gemma Milly of Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space. She informed me that it was Club Fanmoss/Running cedar, Lycopodium digitatum.
Gemma also said that “In the old days, they used to collect them to use the spores to fire photographic flashes– it’s highly volatile!”. When I touched the strobili (the candelabra like structures above the leaves) and the sporangia (the yellow candle part of the candelabra) a cloud of spores came floating out. I was in a trance kneeling on the side of the path, watching the clouds of spores drift around in the morning light.
Can we all just take a moment to “oooh” and “aww” at this gorgeous plant?
The clustered, red drupes on the left are a type of Viburnum, Viburnum spp… The berries on the right are of Japanese Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, single drupes that are often paired along the stem.
Evidence of a cambium eating insect. Since I don’t know what species of tree this is (there was no bark left to help me identify), then my ability to find clues as to what type of insect or larvae made these marks is limited. I love fallen logs, there are always goodies hiding on, in or under them!
We spotted a frog frozen under the water. At first, I had thought it was a wood frog, but I was confused since I know that wood frogs could freeze during the winter but they usually did so on the land.
I reached out to two local herpetologists, Jeff Hogland of the Watershed Institute and Mark Manning of Hopewell Valley High School for their input. They both informed me that this was a Pickerel Frog, Lithobates palustris, not a Wood frog, Lithobates sylvaticus, and that unfortunately, my amphibian friend was most likely dead – not hibernating.
Jeff told me that “Several species of frogs can actually freeze, and survive – the spring peeper, wood frog, and gray tree frog included – but pickerel frogs are NOT among them”.
Mark said that “pickerel frogs in mountainous habitats like the Sourlands tend to move towards spring seeps and seepage areas during the winter, where the temps stay around 55 degrees F, the oxygen is high and the insect larvae provide food. If the main body of the stream remains moving during cold periods, it might duck under rocks but I’ve never seen one frozen on the top like that. The recent warm temps probably brought this frog into a mid-winter activity period, and it might not have moved fast enough to escape the cold blast today”.
I love that there are so many people in this area that are so knowledgeable and are willing to share information with others!
My friend took this picture and said: “FOR SCIENCE!”. Sometimes you have to get dirty to get the picture you need 🙂
I love Pin Oak, Quercus palustris, acorns. They are really small but have such beautiful stripes!
My friend observed the deer tracks at this little pool. She was able to see that the deer had stepped into the slushy pool to take a sip (you can see the hoof print where her hand is). The deer put its face into the pond to take a deeper drink and then continued walking (see in the picture below).
In this picture, you can see the “dribble” line from the water dripping off the deer and the hoof prints on both sides in the slush. If my friend hadn’t pointed it out, I honestly don’t think I would have noticed this at all! One of the most fun things about hiking with others is that even though you both may be in the same place at the same time, you will each experience it differently.
I have never seen anything like this before! I don’t know why the heartwood is creating these rays on the sapwood, but I wished that I could cut this log up into “cookies” and bring them home to make something with. What an absolutely beautiful treat in the forest!
If you look at this cross-section of a tree, you will see multiple layers. On the outside is the outer bark, which provides protection for the tree. It helps keep moisture in and the cold (and hopefully – but not always) insects out.
The next layer is the inner bark or phloem. The phloem moves sugars produced through photosynthesis in the leaves downwards to the rest of the tree. The phloem is short-lived and over time, dries up and becomes cork which works as a protective layer along with the outer bark. Sometimes the phloem layer is referred to as “inner bark”.
Next to the phloem is a powerhouse – the cambium layer. This is a thin layer of cells that will differentiate to create new phloem, xylem (the next layer) or new cambium cells. The cambium is the growing layer, causing the trunk, branches and stems to grow in diameter every year.
Xylem, the next layer, moves water up from the roots to the leaves of the trees. Sometimes the xylem layer is called “sapwood”.
The strongest layer of the tree is the heartwood. The heartwood is comprised of “dead” xylem and it forms the structural component of the tree. The heartwood of a tree is often a different color than the rest of the tree because it contains extractives that can have antifungal properties, decrease desiccation and promote stability.
At the very center of the trunk is the pith, which is made up of spongy cells called parenchyma. Different types of trees can have different types of pith. Some piths are star-shaped (stellate) such as in Oaks. Alders have a triangular pith and Ash trees, Elms and most other trees have round (terete) piths. Piths can also be solid or chambered, hollow, spongy and come in a multitude of colors such as pink, yellow, brown, green, black or white.
A bluebird, Sialia sialis! I am not very proficient at bird IDs, but there is no mistaking this bird! It has such a vibrant blue back and a big, round rust-colored chest and belly. Until now, I had only seen this bird in meadows and I was so excited to see it here in the woods.
It is amazing how well they blend into the background!
Dinosaurs love to climb boulders!
They are off!
Sometimes, little dinosaurs need a bit of reassurance. I love holding hands with my brave dinosaurs as they explore
Littlest found an American Beech, Fagus grandifolia, nut.
Summiting the highest point he can find!
My big dinosaur reminds me of an iguana basking in the sun!
Sourland boulders.
Two dinosaurs planning some mischief!
I love how this tree is growing directly on this rock. Where there is a will there is a way!
White Rattlesnake Root, Prenanthes alba. 
American Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, seed capsule.
American Witch Hazel flower buds. They will be blooming any day now!
If there is a boulder, this dinosaur will have to climb it!
The sulfur yellow buds of Bitternut Hickory, Carya cordiformis.
Littlest Dinosaur points the way to go home!
“What are you putting in your pockets little dinosaur?”
Bitternut, Carya cordiformis, nuts!
White Wood Aster, Eurybia divaricata (Aster divaricatus), looking so lovely in the October morning light.
Indian Pipe, Monotropa uniflora, in fruit. Indian Pipe is a parasitic plant and receives its nutrients from a host rather than photosynthesis. The plant is white because it does not contain chlorophyll and as it ages and produces fruit, it turns brown.
Red Oak, Quercus rubra, acorn!
Shagbark Hickory, Carya ovata, nuts!
The bounty from our adventure!
My big dinosaur wanted to give back the food he had gathered to the woodland creatures, so he carefully sorted each of the nuts and left them out on the rock to be found.
Sometimes, it just gets away from me. On one of the first days of September, I hiked the Rocky Brook Trail. So many responsibilities and events came up and time flew by. With the busyness of life, I just did not have a chance to sit down and write.
A Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis. The Punk Rock spider of the Sourlands 😉
I have never seen the Stony Brook this shallow! I have been to this trail a few times since May and was not able to cross the stream because the water was very high. 
Desiccated lithophytes. A lithophyte is a plant that grows on bare rocks. These plants were once under the water. But with the lack of rain, they were exposed and subsequently, dried up.
Crustose lichens up close. 
Death in the Sourlands. This is a decaying body of some sort of moth or butterfly. I attempted to identify it but soon gave up. There are so many amazing butterflies and moths in New Jersey but I don’t know enough about them to tell the difference without their wing markings.
Water striders breaking the surface tension of the water.
White Wood Aster, Eurybia divaricata. 
The contrast between the rocks and the forest canopy was mesmerizing.
What gorgeous and welcoming steps into the forest!
Peace.
Bottle brush grass, Elymus hystrix. This grass is just about the only grass that I can identify with confidence!
I cannot get enough of these beautiful spider webs in the morning sunshine!
American Hogpeanut, Amphicarpaea bracteata. I am getting more and more curious about what these Hogpeanuts taste like!
Great blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica, looking stunning this morning.
Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is an invasive. But I am not going to lie. I love these gorgeous flowers.
August has begun to whisper, “Summer is coming to an end.” I detect a slight early morning chill and I am a little wistful, realizing that it will soon be too cold for short sleeves. The moon rises earlier and sets later and the days are cooler and shorter. August is bittersweet as summer reaches its peak and I must soon say “good-bye” to my favorite season of the year.
I really like this trampoline web! I didn’t see the owner, but I like to imagine the tiny spider bouncing up and down doing back flips!
Who is hiding in there?
There you are! A grass spider in the family, Agelenidae.
These spiders do not have sticky webs. Instead they run very fast to catch their prey.
A loose knitted spider web. I love the big loops, heavy with dew.
A tight and symmetrical web. I wonder why the center is transparent but the outer circles are not? Perhaps to confuse their prey into flying towards the midpoint of the web?
A Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus! It was my oldest who informed me that the Monarchs are the “Kings of the Butterflies”. I then realized that the significance of the name, “Monarch” had eluded me! Children can be wonderful teachers.
At first, I was frustrated because I could not get a picture of the monarchs flittering about. But I really like this picture of the two Monarchs flying together with the background in focus. It adds to the whimsical beauty of this August morning.
This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus, kept teasing me. Every time I tried to get close for a picture, it would flit away.
I persisted and finally got the picture I wanted! My oldest loves to tell me that butterflies have a proboscis. I don’t think that he has actually seen a proboscis and he is unsure about where the proboscis goes when the butterfly is not eating. Now I can show him! Here is a short video about the Butterfly proboscis 
I believe that this Butterfly is a common Wood-Nymph, Cercyonis pegala. I was elated when I realize that wood nymphs are not just imaginary creatures in stories!
Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis. Whenever I see Elderberries, I always giggle as I recall “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and the French knight who said “I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of Elderberries!”
These fruit were not ripe yet, but I still wanted to get a closer look…and to take a whiff in order to know what Elderberries really smell like 😉
A side-view of Jewelweed/Touch-me-not, Impatiens capensis. Look at the vents and the tail on this flower! It is absolutely gorgeous!
Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, dainty and quite beautiful this morning.
Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, both whimsical and tropical in their appearance. I was mesmerized by their charm.
Heall-All, Prunella vulgaris, magnificent in this morning light!
Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota. A common name for this plant is “Wild Carrot”. Queen Anne’s Lace is a native edible. But BEWARE! There is a common plant that also grows in this area called “Poison Hemlock”, Conium maculatum, and is often mistaken for Queen Anne’s lace because it resembles it so closely.
Here is a picture of Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum. It is often found growing in close proximity to Queen Anne’s Lace.
A second breakfast of Blackberries, Rubus allegheniensis, graciously provided by the forest.
I spy with my little eye a very noisy little bird…
A Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas. A college friend of mine who is a bird enthusiast helped me identify this little bird. Slowly and through practice (and asking friends who dabble in ornithology), I am starting to expand my knowledge of native bird species and identification. 
I love the smell of the forest after a rain, the commingling of fresh and musky. I was on the trail before 8 am, and the forest was bursting with bird songs and the rustling sounds of unseen animals. A morning hike is a wonderful way to start the day. It always refreshes me and renews my connection with the Earth.
The magenta flowers of Smartweed, Persicaria spp., stood out beautifully against the green backdrop.
Even though the idea of trying to identify Sedges to species level gives me agita, I always love to see them in flower.
Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, studded with water droplets that look like crystals.
Peek-a-boo! No berries are safe from me!
These wiggly squiggly lines are from a leaf minor, Liriomyza eupatoriella, who uses White Snake root, Eupatorium rugosum, as its host for its larva.
Sassafrass, Sassafras albidum, looking picture perfect this morning.
I think this is American Jumpseed, 
This white tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, looked pretty annoyed that I startled them out of the bed.
Stickseed, Hacklia virginiana. I love that the fruits look like little ornaments hanging off the branches. I don’t love how they stick to just about everything!
When I first saw this I thought it was a fruit until I picked it up and realized it was hollow. This is a gall, which is an abnormal growth on a plant that is triggered by a pest or a disease.
A sea of Hogpeanuts, Amphicarpaea bracteata. Have you ever seen someone and totally blanked on their name even though you knew them? Well, that happened to me when I saw the Hogpeanuts. I knew I knew the name but I just stared at it blankly and couldn’t retrieve it from my mental rolodex.
White Avens, Geum canadense. The young leaves of this plant sort of look like strawberry leaves.
When I saw this bench tucked in the woods, I imagined a person sitting there, deeply in thought while writing beautiful poetry.
This Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, came up through the boardwalk. It is a common plant but I always feel happy when I see the brilliant orange flowers.
I am pretty sure this is Heal-all, Prunella vulgaris. There aren’t any flowers on it, but based upon the leaves and the flowering stalk I am pretty sure that is what it is. I really love the purple flowers of this little plant!
Black-and-gold Flat Millipede Apheloria virginiensis. Apparently these little critters produce a cyanide substance that can cause skin irritation so please look but do not touch!
The trail was littered with fruit! Pignut hickory (Carya glabra), Bitternut (Carya cordiformis), Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata), Pin Oak (Quercus pallustris), Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida).
Isn’t this little pond gorgeous?! Hearing the frogs and finding this pond was the highlight of my morning.
What a perfect place to come and just be with nature. It was so loud and so quiet at the same time.
My Big Dude picked the first berry of the hike.
My husband showed Littlest which berries were ripe for picking.
I love the pincer grasp that young children use when picking berries. Their careful and slow reach and those little fingers pinching is adorable. 
“Hurry up! There are more berries up here!” my Big Dude shouted. He was our scout and he pointed out all of the big and best patches.
Berry baskets for the win! Two handed picking at its best.
Berry picking was traded in for some rock climbing.
We took a well-deserved break at the top of the mountain and enjoyed watching the sun as it began to set over the Delaware river.
This was about two-thirds of our harvest. We picked a bunch more on our way down to our car. 
I combined our family-picked berries with about 4 more cups of berries which I had picked from the bushes outside of my office. I cooked them all down with 1.5 cups of water.
I bought a jelly strainer and strained out all of the juices that I could.
Cooking the preserves, adding sugar and pectin and sterilizing all of my equipment! I have never canned anything before (or made preserves for that matter!) so I boiled everything a lot longer than I needed to because I wanted to make sure I killed all the bacteria and fungi.
My Big Dude knew the most important part of “Wineberry Preserves”.
All done!
Our shirts and pants are tucked in and we are ready for an adventure!
It looks like one tree fell over and then another tree fell on top of the first. Trees knocked over by wind are often referred to as “wind thrown” and these thrown trees can have many different effects on the ecosystem. Fallen trees change the ecological community because the organisms that depend on an upright tree generally cannot survive on a horizontal one. Also, when a tree falls it causes a physical disturbances on the ground where it fell and in the hole that the roots used to occupy. Uprooted trees destabilize the soil making it easier for the next tree to fall. When a tree falls it also creates a gap in the canopy, allowing a lot more light to reach the forest floor. Often when you see large canopy gaps you will also see a flush of invasive species like Japanese Stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum. 
“These are ferns!” My little botanist in training 🙂
Littlest working on his fire starting skills.
A Jill-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum.
Jack-in-the-pulpit/Jill-in-the-pulpit seeds. They will turn a bright red when they are ripe.
I love the curves of this Sweet Cherry, Prunus serotina. At the top of the photo you can see the Sweet Cherry growing into the bark of what appears to be a Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica. The Sweet Cherry probably had damage on that branch and as the branch healed, the new wood started to grow around the bark of the Black Gum. This is an example of a natural graft. Grafting is a horticultural technique often used to combine two different species of plant. For example, many of the grape vines grown in Europe use a rock stock from the American Concord grape which is resistant to Phylloxera, which is an insect pest that was introduced to Europe and killed a large percentage grape vines across the continent. A piece of the vine from the desired grape variety (lets go with Chardonnay) will be sliced on an angle producing a “scion”. This will be aligned with an identical but mirrored cut on a Phylloxera-resistant root stock (Concord) and then the two pieces will be wrapped to hold them in place. The vines will heal around each other making the two plants into one. This method is used in many different plant species, but particularly for fruiting trees.
The Wild Boys playing nature’s version of hop scotch.
Kings of the mud mound!
Jump!
We used roots and rocks to navigate through the mud.
My Big dude found a slug and wanted to make sure I took a picture.
“Rock Island”.
Surveying the stream and looking for the best place to throw rocks.
He asked if he could cross the stream. I said, “No”, and as soon as I turned my back to help Littlest, he crossed the stream anyway. It was one of those situations where you must pick and choose your battles. I chose to let it (and him) go.
Enjoying his independence and the view from the other side!
The Japanese Stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum, was like a carpet in the forest.
These Wild Boys loved all of the stream crossings at the preserve. There were so many opportunities to hop, skip and jump!
My big dude walked off again while I was helping Littlest cross the stream. I found him upstream quietly sitting on a rock.
I asked him what he was doing and he told me, “I am just enjoying a quiet moment”. My oldest continues to amaze and silence me every day. He asks me the questions that I have never even considered and has much more patience than I have ever had. I love watching him think and puzzle over things. He picks things apart and then slowly and carefully puts them back together in a way that makes sense to him. He is tenacious in his quest for knowledge and will never accept the easy response of, “because that is the way it is”. He constantly requires me to reflect on what I think I “know” and to not just accept things as truth without understanding them from top to bottom. 
I am trying to give both of my children space and time to explore on their own. While guided instruction is important, I believe children need to play and self direct their playtime. I sat back on my rock and enjoyed some quiet time myself while watching my Wild Boys play and explore on their own time and terms.
Nature’s balance beam.
Searching for waterfalls.
The only time they are allowed to throw rocks!
This tree had what looked like a wire wrapped around it and over time, the tree grew over the wire. I have seen trees “swallow” fences before, but I have never seen a tree grow around a wire in this fashion.
Post-hike car picnic! The women that work at our favorite sandwich shop know these Wild Boys well and when they see them in their Sourland Conservancy shirts, they always asks them “Are you going to help Mommy save the trees today?” And the Wild Boys shout, “YES!”.
We measured water depth across different portions of the stream.
Stream monitors are supposed to work in pairs, so one person collects the measurement while the other person writes it down.
Ready, set, go!
Go ducky go!
Big helpers taking a turn with the measuring tape.
Littlest finding the perfect rock to throw.
My big dude could not wait to get into the stream and look for Macros.
My big dude found a Mayfly! Mayflies are in the order Ephemeroptera. The root of the word means “for a day” in Greek, which hints at the short life span of Mayflies.
Watershed Ambassador, Fairfax Hutter, showing volunteers how to sample along streams with overhanging vegetation.
I love how unique each of these Sourland streams are!
Volunteers were eager to check out their D-nets and see what macros they found!
Whenever someone found something new everyone would crowd around to get a good look.
Inspecting his find!
Volunteers sampled along the riffles, from the top of this section all the way to the bottom.
Reaching into the D-nets to look around felt like reaching into a goody bag (at least for us nerdy folks!).
Volunteers chatted and sampled and had a lot of fun working (playing!) in the stream.
It looks like this Crayfish is holding back a sneeze!
A Hellgrammite, in the order Megaloptera!!! This has been on my life of macro invertebrates to see since I took Limnology when I was an undergraduate. I am talking 11 years in the making! I saw it in my D-net, but was cautiously optimistic because I didn’t want to be too excited and then upon closer inspection find out that I was mistaken. However, I let out a huge WAHOO when I got it on my hand. Isn’t she magnificent?!?! Hellgrammites turn into Dobsonflies, which I have not seen either. Now that I have the larval stage checked off, I know need to see an adult!
A dragonfly, in the order Odonata. I feel like this is one of the easier species to identify in their larval stage because it looks pretty similar to the adult stage, except it doesn’t have wings.
We all worked together to identify, sort and count our macro invertebrates together.
We found three crayfish! I always get excited to find one (in the water, not on the trail like last time!).
A Mayfly!
A Water Penny, in the order Coleoptera (beetle). Finding Water Pennies is a good indicator that your water is clean!
A Damselfly, in the order Odonata. Their paddle-like tails are actually gills!
A stonefly, in the order Plecoptera! Stoneflies have gills right where their appendages meet their body, so it looks sort of like they have hairy armpits… or hairy legpits?
SourlandNiche 
