Sheppard Point Trail

Christmas weekend brought us some beautiful weather. Mid-50s and sunny! But also the Sunday after Christmas, the middle of holiday break season, when it seemed lots of folks would be interested in some outdoors time. So, we looked for a reasonably difficult but not-too-time consuming hike with low traffic, and this fit the bill. 

I'd read the Trail of Tears sections in Illinois, while of immense historical significance, made for largely uneventful hiking. This trail wasn't exactly loaded with features, but the slope was plenty eventful. Aside from a few flat stretches running along the top of a ridge, the hike was a constant climb or descent, which packs a lot of activity into a 3-mile hike.

This out-and-back trail turned around at an amazing view of the Mississippi River, which I bet is most enjoyable in the winter. We sat and had sandwiches, watched gulls float along the shore, listened to the wind in the trees, and tried out our new binoculars til we could read the numbers on a sign post on the other bank and the names on a barge floating by.

 

 

Not too much fungal activity on the trail. It has been fairly dry and cool. A lot of spent puffballs to sploosh and pretty purple Polyporaceae. I know they're super common, but I still think they're beautiful. 

We did, however, find some cool black dusty mess built up on the leaves of some beech trees. Google machine tells me this is a sooty mold! 

 According to uconnladybug, "The sooty molds are fungi that grow on honeydew, a sweet substance excreted by aphids and some other insects.  They are called sooty molds because they grow in black layers on leaves and other surfaces where honeydew has dripped from aphid infested plants.  Sooty molds are not plant parasitic but they can affect the health of a plant when abundant by preventing photosynthesis as a result of blocking sunlight from reaching the leaves.... As more honeydew accumulates, the fungus grows larger and becomes spongy.  Later, it will blacken and produce sexual spores in structures called pseudothecia." 

Apparently this is a late summer/early fall treat. As someone who is new to year-round hiking (why on earth did I think hiking was a summertime-only activity???), I am loving these glimpses of seasonal processes. Great reminder to look up from the ground once in a while. 

The rest of the hike pics can be viewed here!