hike with relatives: mushrooms, frogs, spiders and a rattlesnake.

[JV3]

we saw tons of these...i need to improve my mushroom id skills.

a few months ago this was completely dry...nice to see it flowing again!

my uncle in front followed by my cousin...i took them to one of the most rocky trails here to hopefully see a snake since i almost always spot one here.

an abandoned bird's nest that my cousin spotted. i'm happy that he already acquired the attention to detail skill from being in the military in the philippines.

my uncle was excited to see moss...he said it reminded him of those zen gardens back in the day when he lived in japan for a number of years.

an interesting pattern in the slow-moving stream.

another zen garden-like plant that my uncle spotted.

a moss imitating a mushroom.

i've never seen anything like this before. at the time the area was still dry so this mushroom has a really shiny, enamel-like clear coat on it.

 

[JV3]

so we spot these two near-vertical rock formations and i asked my cousin to stand between it and pose as if he's pushing them apart...but he wussed out, saying there might be a huge snake hiding behind it...i really like snakes so that comment was enough for me to check it out up close.

we climb on top and like a dumbass my cousin jumps down 12' down without looking for a safer way down. i'll be honest and say i'm happy he's only here on vacation so i don't have to take him hiking all the time with me...he has too many bear grylls-like tendencies while out in the woods that i'm bound to be the one to bail him out not if but when he breaks his leg doing something like this...anyway he says there's a huge cave on the other side (the rock we're standing on when i took this pic) so my uncle and i look for a safer way down.

sure enough, on the other side of the rock we were standing on is a timber rattlesnake! it was pure luck that it wasn't on the side where my cousin jumped down (at the trail head i already warned them several times i almost always spot a snake here so they've been warned not to do dumb things and watch their steps but my cousin still does them anyway).

it was on the move so i threw twigs at it to make it coil up for pics.

look at that mean look! they are an endangered species here in nj and threatened in ny (where this trail was) so i was very happy that i finally spotted one in the wild...awesome creature!

shortly after, it relaxed and it went about it's way. so while we were watching her leave, my uncle suddenly yells, "there's another one!" while staring near our feet.

it turns out he meant another mushroom...geez! almost gave us a heartattack!

one of many streams we crossed...really happy to see the area flowing again after this summer's dry spell.

it doesn't take much to goad my cousin to do some things.

fall colors are here!

my uncle is camera shy!

my cousin on the left showing the tactical use of a mora i gave him that mora as a souvenir when he left last week...hopefully he learned a little finesse from me instead of going gung-ho all the time and it'll stay intact when i see it/him again someday.

 

[JV3]

you can see ground zero/freedom tower off in the distance.

after the rain, the rocks are now slippery but less chance of an encounter with a snake though.

i spotted this fat one near one of the streams.

i spotted this mullein heaven near the trail head. i took it as a sign that my next skill that i'll work on is hand drill so i took a bunch of stalks home.

 

[JV3]

some misc. pics from my cousin's camera...me taking a pic of the rattlesnake.

while we were taking a lunch break next to the lake it started raining down hard. if my uncle wasn't with us (he's deathly afraid of sleeping in the woods for some reason...after the snake sighting, i'll never convince him to), we probably would've done an overnighter right there...i love the cold!

there were plenty of these indian/ghost pipes.

the whole time we were talking about that murder suspect hiding somewhere here...i told them there's a shelter just up there ahead.

...so it was my turn to take the lead into the blind corner.

as expected, he wasn't dumb enough to hide in one of these shelters. with a strong running stream nearby, i'll probably overnight here one of these days.

 

[lambertiana]

Great pics! I like that purple mushroom, hopefully someone can ID it.

I like all the rocks, I can never get enough of rocks. And nice snake, too. How long was it?

I spend a lot of time with filipinos (my wife is Pinay) and with most of her family and friends, everything is considered to be food until proven otherwise. It seems your cousin feels the same way.

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice post JV, but it's just making me more frustrated than I already am. First two good rainy and foggy autumn weather days we've had and I'm stuck inside nursing a bad cold. I would hate for it to become pneumonia so I haven't ventured out very far. Really cool shots of the timber rattler there, twelve buttons so not exactly a baby eh?. I have been reading how they are endangered up in the north east. Probably for the same reason they are thinned out down here, people panicking and killing them out of fear. Your's is darker than the ones I've seen down here. Mullein is cool, unlike yucca, it can be picked green and dried. If you can find large enough diameter stalks it works well for a bow drill too. I think perhaps next time your cousins visits you should try to hook him up with some companionship

 

[lmalterna]

Also asawa to a beautiful Filipina! Yep, she will eat damned near anything.... Freaked her out knowing some 'Kanos are just as bad!

Awesome trip and photos, memories that last a lifetime.

Bill

 

[pitdog]

Great stuff buddy, I especially enjoyed the snake pics....awesome !

 

[Stickman]

You have a good eye for photos J, really nice shots...well, except for the spiders, but that's just me Altho, I just read where a woman spent over $30K trying to heal from a spider bite, don't know what kind, but it was here in the US. Enjoyed the snake pics, a black tailed timber rattler I think, I have some pics very similar to yours...it's kind of fun to see them up close thru the lens isn't it? Fortunately, they aren't very aggressive and deserve our respect, which you gave it and have some trophy shots to show for it.

 

[TheGame]

Great pics. I don't mind snakes, but I have a fear of rattle snakes for some reason. Though I have to admit I really do like seeing them in pictures.

That mushroom looks really neat, too. (The shiny one) Like it was glossed over for decoration or something.

 

[Joezilla]

awesome pictures. Rattlesnakes (especially diamondbacks, and more northern variety timbers) are especially cold tolerant and have been noted to make appearances on warm days during cold periods

 

[JV3]

Great pics! I like that purple mushroom, hopefully someone can ID it.

I like all the rocks, I can never get enough of rocks. And nice snake, too. How long was it?

I spend a lot of time with filipinos (my wife is Pinay) and with most of her family and friends, everything is considered to be food until proven otherwise. It seems your cousin feels the same way.

thanks! the snake was about 4' long.

haha, so true about food...we'll eat anything! i like freaking out my pinoy friends who grew up here with stories regarding ant eggs, beetles and stuff.

Nice post JV, but it's just making me more frustrated than I already am. First two good rainy and foggy autumn weather days we've had and I'm stuck inside nursing a bad cold. I would hate for it to become pneumonia so I haven't ventured out very far. Really cool shots of the timber rattler there, twelve buttons so not exactly a baby eh?. I have been reading how they are endangered up in the north east. Probably for the same reason they are thinned out down here, people panicking and killing them out of fear. Your's is darker than the ones I've seen down here. Mullein is cool, unlike yucca, it can be picked green and dried. If you can find large enough diameter stalks it works well for a bow drill too. I think perhaps next time your cousins visits you should try to hook him up with some companionship

thanks, brian! i hope you feel better...i've been popping ibuprofen myself and hopefully i can overnight soon to catch the peak of the fall colors.

you're absolutely right. even my cousin's first instinct is to kill the snake despite him not being anywhere near in danger...his reasoning is that it can kill humans i explained that if anything, lyme disease/ticks is what he should be most worried about here and that snakes reduces that risk.

yeah, my cousin is definitely not picky! you should've seen how he was with the camera when i took him to nyc - he's got permanent beer goggles on, haha. i think every girl there got photographed.

thanks for the head's up regarding mullein!

Also asawa to a beautiful Filipina! Yep, she will eat damned near anything.... Freaked her out knowing some 'Kanos are just as bad!

Awesome trip and photos, memories that last a lifetime.

Bill

thanks, bill! freaking out the 'kanos might as well be a sport over there actually i try to gross out my pinoy friends who were born/grew up here as well...too easy!

Great stuff buddy, I especially enjoyed the snake pics....awesome !

thanks, pit!

You have a good eye for photos J, really nice shots...well, except for the spiders, but that's just me Altho, I just read where a woman spent over $30K trying to heal from a spider bite, don't know what kind, but it was here in the US. Enjoyed the snake pics, a black tailed timber rattler I think, I have some pics very similar to yours...it's kind of fun to see them up close thru the lens isn't it? Fortunately, they aren't very aggressive and deserve our respect, which you gave it and have some trophy shots to show for it.

thanks, man! i saw on one of the nature shows a brown recluse and others have a really nasty bite (looks like flesh-eating bacteria where chunks of flesh are just liquified )...someone told me we also have copperheads native here and hopefully i get to photograph one in the wild as well.

Great pics. I don't mind snakes, but I have a fear of rattle snakes for some reason. Though I have to admit I really do like seeing them in pictures.

That mushroom looks really neat, too. (The shiny one) Like it was glossed over for decoration or something.

thanks! yeah that mushroom is interesting. at first i thought it was just wet but then i kept seeing more and more of them like that and it's far from any stream that might've splashed on it and i realized it's their natural coating...i should've goaded my cousin to lick it to see how it feels and tastes

have you seen a gaboon viper in person? i love snakes but that one just freaks me out.

awesome pictures. Rattlesnakes (especially diamondbacks, and more northern variety timbers) are especially cold tolerant and have been noted to make appearances on warm days during cold periods

thanks, joe! thanks for the head's up...i'll probably overnight there during the winter but i'll still use a sturdy bug net or a hammock now.

 

[kimsalls]

Great pics and story. I LOL'ed at your Uncle yelling,"there's another one!"
The black border on the photos is really nice.

 

[MEJ]

Good pics man!

 

[fujita yuji]

Very nice shots. Love those small creatures and fungi!

 

[Crewdawg]

Great pix again! :thumbup: Thanks for sharing!

 

[ddml]

half-pinoy checking in!

the purple mushroom is cortinarius iodes
the top two are mycena
the orange one next to the moss is likely a russula
taking pics of the gills, stem, and base help with an ID

great photos!

 

[Lycosa]

Wonderful picture story.
Thanks for treading lightly.
Rolf

 

[lmalterna]

My sisters asawa is Phillippine heritage but born in SFA so all Kano in habits and does not eat traditional foods.

I eat anything offered including Dineguan, Okow(sp?) and balut. Wifey did not tell me until after I had a few Balut that she refuses the embryo! LOL! I don't like mushy fish like Singang Bangus but can eat it. We go back in Jan 2013 and I am stoked. Hope to go back for good in a few years.

Asawa ko was shocked to see the places we can hike and camp, muttering "In the Philippines, there would be NPA..." LOL! Our past leaders did well to preserve what they did for us. Many countries do not have it so good.

Ingat,
Bill

 

[TheGame]

thanks! yeah that mushroom is interesting. at first i thought it was just wet but then i kept seeing more and more of them like that and it's far from any stream that might've splashed on it and i realized it's their natural coating...i should've goaded my cousin to lick it to see how it feels and tastes

have you seen a gaboon viper in person? i love snakes but that one just freaks me out.

No, I haven't. But it seems like you have whatever I have. I don't mind them, but rattlesnakes... I am freaked out by them. You just chose a different snake to be freaked out by.