Overcast with showers. Breezy, temperatures in the mid-50s.
Snow is definitely melting off the mountains. I think it probably will be gone from the trail to Picnic Rock within the next few days. I may try to get up there soon.
I got out this afternoon and was pulling into Thimbleberry Lake parking lot when I ran into Rowan C. He told me about goats and a whale out at Herring Cove. I made a detour and went for a look.
I spotted the nanny and kid up on the steep cliffy area above Herring Cove, but the whale didn’t make an appearance while I was watching.
I went back to Thimbleberry and saw the swan was still there. I brought my longer lens today, but didn’t go up to the closer location, so the photos I got ended up being similar.
This evening I visited the cemetery muskeg. I didn’t find the early season cup fungi that grows in the Sphagnum. I probably should have gone in April for that. I did find hairy butterworts which were just about blooming.
From there, I walked around the park where I ran into Rowan C. again. This time he mentioned finding a chunk of graphite in a rocky deposite below Cross Mountain. He also shared a story of seeing a massive stone flake falling from the granitic cliffs that rise over the vally that drains Indigo Lake.
I was a little surprised to find the tide quite high. I realized it’s because I am rarely out during the highest tides in the summer. They peak centered around midnight during the highest tides of the cycle this time of year. They’re not as high as the fall/winter high tides (plus the highest are in the dark), so I don’t make an effort to get out for them. I just happened to be out at the beach late in the evening, not a common occurrence for me.
Based on my recent experience with ChatGPT I’m intrigued to build myself a system that I could share stories with (and have it ask me questions that help me deepen the experience). I have been giving thought to how to do that, but also getting it better informed about my background. It’s an interesting experience to share/explore some of my formative development and have it reflected back to me from the context of the model its developed of me through all the questions we’ve gone over.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
