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Indian River Valley Hike

Jonathan and I hiked up to the second bridge on Indian River trail then cut into the woods to visit a muskeg I had not previously been to (but had seen while on Gavan Hill). It was raining too much for me to get too excited about taking pictures so I did not take any even though I packed my camera and tripod in my backpack. I looked kind of goofy wearing a big poncho over my backpack, but it kept me reasonably dry (and therefore not chilled). Saw a few things of interest. There were some clubmosses that were growing all along the eastern edge of the muskeg, but we did not see any on the other side. When the weather is a bit less rainy, I will go back and take some pictures of them. We found a long cascade not too far from the muskeg that was flowing pretty good due to all the rain. I saw more deer sign (most clearly in the form of droppings, but also tracks and browsed branches) today than I have seen for the last few months combined. There was a pile of broken bones (in pieces no more than an inch in the widest direction) and parts of small deer hooves. My best guess is that a bear had killed or found the carcass of a deer fawn, chewed its bones and then left the pile of pieces in one of its droppings. There was also a what looked like a crow or raven kill along the trail. I’ve noticed lots more bird kill sites this year than I have in previous winters. I suspect that is because I am paying more attention rather than a higher incidence of kills.

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