The Chuckery Trail

2.4 miles completed
29.97 miles completed total

The Chuckery Trail is home of the Indian Signal Tree.  The Signal Tree was believed to be shaped by the Indians to direct travelers between the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga Rivers.

I did find some more interesting fungus.  I wish I did better identifying it.  I think I will ask one of the naturalist for a recommendation of a book or something.

And some brown fungus

I also found a mature privet.  Usually they have been very small and they look very different from when they were mature.

Never really noticed the spines on it till I saw this one. It had the purple berries so I'm pretty sure it is a privet.  I didn't realize how dark it was getting while we were hiking but looking back at the pictures it really was getting dark even by this point in our hike.

The kids were resting after a strenuous hike up a killer hill.  They did real well though.  I have a cold so my lungs were on fire at this point.

This is a nest that was right next to the trail a little below eye level.  It looked to be a bird about the size of a robin or cardinal.  I don't know enough about their habit to determine what kind of bird made it. 

This tree trunk was buried in the dirt but had been cut and cleared from the trail by a park worker.  The worker had been creative and had made the stump into a seat.  Of course the kids felt compelled to model in it for all of you.

By this point the kids were having so much fun posing for me I didn't have a chance of getting any other nature pictures.  They weren't going to allow it. Plus I lost light after this anyway. 

The last half mile of the hike was in complete dark and we were the last car to leave the parking lot.  I would have liked to get a shot of the rocks by the Cuyahoga River and the 6 deer grazing by the Signal Tree but maybe next time.  Guess I didn't plan this hike very well.  Better luck next time I guess.