I took an early morning walk around Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary this morning to see what wildflowers I could find. Right at the entrance to the Main Trail, showy dame’s rocket was bursting with with its soft, lavender and white flowers. As I walked along, I spotted jack-in-the-pulpit blooming inconspicuously long the woodsy trail. I noted wild geranium, fleabane, golden ragweed, dwarf dandelion, star of Bethlehem, ox eye daisy, and anise root. (All of this was ID’s through my iNaturalist app.) I’m still learning the east coast flora and I’m sure I will be learning for a long time. But the highlight of my walk today was the blooming Mayapple. I’ve seen these attractive umbrella like plants in many different locations in the area, and as I was hiking today, I caught a large patch of them in bloom. Mayapple is a native woodland plant that grows in colonies in deciduous forests, shady fields and along riverbanks. The plant is highly toxic except for fruit, but I personally am not that brave to try it. Another favorite of mine are the tulip trees. This time of year you can find the flowers that have dropped from the trees above along the forest floor. The flowers are a delicate shade of pale yellow outlined in bright orange. They’re usually high above in the trees and are easily missed until they fall from the trees.
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It was a beautiful Monday morning and we headed to the Delaware Water Gap to the Dunnfield Creek Natural Area. The trailhead was right off the 80 Freeway, so there was a lot of traffic noise at the beginning of the hike. But as we moved further into the woods, the traffic noise was washed away by the sound of the running creek and birdsong. The trail started off on a wide path following along Dunnfield Creek and crossed over a wooden bridge. I noted wild geranium and other wildflowers in bloom along the way. In less than a mile we crossed another wooden bridge and arrived at Dunnfield Falls, a small waterfall just off the side of the trail. From here the trail became single track and gently made its way up into a forest of emerald green. I noticed fallen blooms of yellow poplar on the ground and more wildflowers amongst the bright green foliage of the abundant fern covering the forest floor. We passed by the Pahaquarry Trail which leads to the top of Mount Tammany, another very popular hike in this area. The trail began to get more rocky the further on we hiked and I saw tiny flower buds starting to form on the mountain laurel. We then reached the Holly Springs connector trail that could take us back in a loop along the AT. We weren’t ready to turn back yet, so we decided to continue on Dunnfield Creek Trail to its termination at Sunfish Pond. The trail crossed the creek several times before making an ascent leading away from the water. Soon we arrived at Sunfish Pond, where we stopped for a snack and listened to the bullfrogs calling back and forth to one another. After our break, we made our way back on the A.T. Along the way we crossed paths with a large Eastern Black Rat Snake who was sprawled out along the trail. We passed by her slowly so as not to disturb her as she made her way back into the woods. We ended the day with about 9 miles. When we arrived back at the trailhead, the parking area was full. I can only imagine how packed it must be on a weekend. Nonetheless, this was a beautiful area and I would love to visit again.
