Category: Field Trips

On Tuesday, March 21, six HMNs (including three members of this year’s training class) joined host Brian Lux and our guide, Daniel Greenawalt, on a caving adventure. Our destination was Church Mountain Cave, located off Runion’s Creek Road in Rockingham County.

After parking the cars, a short hike up a logging road and a section of trail led to the cave entrance, which is at the top of steep climb. The opening is wide, with a scramble down into a fairly large room. Because of the size of the opening, there is a lot of light coming into this room. Consequently, some of the rocks are covered with bright emerald-green mold, something you rarely see in wild caves.

The part of the cave that we saw is pretty dry, which means the formations are not actively growing. Nonetheless, we saw a few, notably a large column—that is, a stalagmite and stalactite that have grown so long that they touch, making a single formation. This particular column appears to have settled at some point, leaving a three-inch gap about a foot below the ceiling.
We also saw fossils embedded in the rock. The floor of the Shenandoah Valley features a thick layer of limestone, which is why there are so many caves here: surface water is slightly acidic from contact with carbon dioxide in the air and with organic material in the soil. This slightly acid water slowly dissolves the limestone, forming underground caverns. The fossils are there because the rock itself formed at the bottom of an ocean that was here before the collision of continents that created the Appalachian Mountains.

Having explored the big room, some of us chose to follow Daniel down into the lower section of the cave. This part was also quite dry, which made easier going, since the mud which covers most of the floor is not so slippery. We eventually worked our way down to a small stream. The cave continues in several directions at this point, but we decided not to explore any further, as the passages got quite tight. Instead, we all turned out our lights for a few minutes in order to experience total darkness.

At this point, we began the short climb back out of the cave. Some in our group had never before been in a “wild” cave, so this was a new experience. Thanks again to Daniel for being our guide, and to Brian for organizing!

– Carl Droms, Cohort II, March 2017

Photos by Peggy Plass, Cohort IV. At top is Kate Guenther. Kristina Oates and Daniel Greenawalt are at the cave entrance in the second photo and the third one is of the big room.

On Sunday, November 13, Virginia Department of Forestry Senior Area Forester Patti Nylander hosted a tree identification trip for 13 members of this year’s Headwaters Master Naturalist basic training class. Trainees were joined by two current HMNs as Patti led a walk around the grounds of the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville, VA.

While the field trip was intended as a “winter tree identification” outing, many of the beautiful trees at Woodrow Wilson still had their leaves, which made identification a little less challenging! Trainees had an opportunity to practice using keys from the Common Native Trees of Virginia text in determining the identity of trees like Scarlett and Black Oak and Virginia Pines.

– Peggy Plass, Cohort IV

Photos by Peggy Plass

Mary Gatling-Finks, Cohort V, studies a tree

Sue Gier, Cohort V, pointing out something of interest.

Morgan and Ben Martindell, Cohort V, and Janet James, Cohort III working on their tree ID skills

Patti’s had full of maple leaves

While the HMN Basic Training class was in full swing during its fall session, chapter members were given opportunities to join in on a wide variety of field trips. Thanks to Kate Guenther for her organizational skills that made this happen.

Here is a sampling of where we went in October:

Forestry Management at Historic McCormick Farm, October 29. Allen Baker, Cohort V, shown at left above, takes on the role of Water Chef in an activity led by Sandy Greene. The two cooked up a “soup” starting with fresh water then adding local ingredients in the way of some of the many types of pollutants that make their way into our waterways. Pouring the dirty water on a sponge offered a graphic demonstration on the function of riparian buffers and why they are so important. Allen assures us that “… the ‘pollutants’ we were using were safe stand-ins.” This was one of several activities available in the education boxes in the education shed at McCormick Farm which members can use when classes come to the farm.

Retired forester Charlie Huppuch, in the above photo on right, leads an interpretive talk of forestry and riparian buffers on the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center trail at McCormick Farm. He discussed autumn olive and Ailanthus and other invasives, and how he is trying to preserve this old-growth section of trees. Pictured left to right: Charlie Huppuch, and cohort trainees, Rachel Kreiger, Kim McCray, Janet James, Allen Baker, Barbara Phillips, and Shelley Baker.
Thanks to Deb Pugh, Cohort V, for the photos and Deb, Janet James and Allen Baker for reporting.

Macroinvertebrate Benthic Stream Monitoring, October 16. Through Friends of the Middle River, HMNs help sample, identify and count aquatic insects, snails, worms and other small creatures living on the rocky bottoms of different sections of the Middle River. The data is used to help determine the water quality and overall health of the stream.

In the photo at left, Cohort V basic training class members Kathy McKenzie, Kim Atkins and Chris Shaw examine a netting from the Eastwood site.

Carbon: The Unsung Nutrient for Soil and Water, October 15. Conservationist Bobby Whitescarver discussed soils, riparian buffers and native grasses on his farm in Swoope to illustrate important farm management concepts for healthy ecosystems. Learn more from Bobby’s blog: Getting More on the Ground.
Thanks to Ann Murray, Cohort II, for the photo and Ginny Hoffman, Cohort III, and Kate for input.

Make Rope Cordage Out of Local Wild Plants, October 12. Kate Guenther, Cohort I, led this workshop out of her home near Churchville to “work with and experiment with local plants that can be used for cord making—dogbane, yucca, cattail, burdock, greenbrier, black walnut, grape and milkweed.”

In the photo at left, Kate shows a plant from a wetland near her home to Janet James, Cohort III, and Cohort V trainees Sue Gier and Kim McCray.

Black Bear Composting Facility Tour, October 6. Black Bear founder and Chief Composting Officer Eric Walter led the group through his commercial scale composting process in Crimora. His company was instrumental in the diversion of four tons of kitchen wastes through the HMN-supported Market Compost Drop-off Program this year. More HERE.
Photo credit Art Fovargue