LMT66
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2008
- Messages
- 11,199
I took a quick hike today to see how the grass I planted at my shelter is coming along. I expected it to be pretty tall but was surprised it was more like a thick ground cover. It's a rye grass so maybe the deer have been keeping it trimmed? They have been using it to bed down as there were large spots matted down and poop.
Just 30 feet into the back trail I used today to get to the shelter, I looked down to see at least a dozen ticks crawling up my legs. (my last permethrin treatment was early April) I went back out to the entrance and looked in my pack for my bottle of 100% deet but it was not there. I did find two contractor garbage bags that I use to clean up trailhead areas. (water and gatorade bottles tossed by bike riders on the bike trail - SERENITY NOW!) I slipped a leg in each bag, tied them off and back in I went! Glad no one saw me.
Some pics of my hike.
The trail is adjacent to a river.
Lots of Sumac.
Mullein about to flower out. This one was 7 feet tall.
Not sure what this is.
After I got back to my clearing I snapped a pic of my Tick repellent! (hangs head in shame) I'm without health insurance for a month or two so not taking any chances.
This is the trail I took in. This is looking out from the shelter area. It gets real thick around the bend. It's a back trail I cut but apparently I should have done more. I call it the "Tick Gauntlet!
Current state of "my lawn". Left of the a-frame is a 30' long pile of invasive honeysuckle I cut last winter.
The grass is thick. (Knife-handle porn)
Come a long way with this little oasis. A sort of time lapse start (late fall 2011) to current.
The long stuff hanging off the the fallen oak's remains became part of my fire reflector.
Fully cleared by early spring.
Raked the leaf debris down to dirt. This was a lot of work!
Anything you see in the background with leaves coming out is invasive honeysuckle. It chokes all the native plants and trees out. It's aggressively cut around here.
Planted grass and flowers and had sprouts in 14 days.
And after 28 days.
A late spring fire during a nice rain.
Today.
In the fall the a-frame is coming down and I'll make a lean-to. I'm also going to rebuild the fire reflector and attempt to use a Mors Winch to move the big fallen oak over a few feet so I can clear out the debris under it. It's loaded full of white mice.
Just 30 feet into the back trail I used today to get to the shelter, I looked down to see at least a dozen ticks crawling up my legs. (my last permethrin treatment was early April) I went back out to the entrance and looked in my pack for my bottle of 100% deet but it was not there. I did find two contractor garbage bags that I use to clean up trailhead areas. (water and gatorade bottles tossed by bike riders on the bike trail - SERENITY NOW!) I slipped a leg in each bag, tied them off and back in I went! Glad no one saw me.
Some pics of my hike.
The trail is adjacent to a river.
Lots of Sumac.
Mullein about to flower out. This one was 7 feet tall.
Not sure what this is.
After I got back to my clearing I snapped a pic of my Tick repellent! (hangs head in shame) I'm without health insurance for a month or two so not taking any chances.
This is the trail I took in. This is looking out from the shelter area. It gets real thick around the bend. It's a back trail I cut but apparently I should have done more. I call it the "Tick Gauntlet!
Current state of "my lawn". Left of the a-frame is a 30' long pile of invasive honeysuckle I cut last winter.
The grass is thick. (Knife-handle porn)
Come a long way with this little oasis. A sort of time lapse start (late fall 2011) to current.
The long stuff hanging off the the fallen oak's remains became part of my fire reflector.
Fully cleared by early spring.
Raked the leaf debris down to dirt. This was a lot of work!
Anything you see in the background with leaves coming out is invasive honeysuckle. It chokes all the native plants and trees out. It's aggressively cut around here.
Planted grass and flowers and had sprouts in 14 days.
And after 28 days.
A late spring fire during a nice rain.
Today.
In the fall the a-frame is coming down and I'll make a lean-to. I'm also going to rebuild the fire reflector and attempt to use a Mors Winch to move the big fallen oak over a few feet so I can clear out the debris under it. It's loaded full of white mice.
.
