Hello and welcome back to my blog! As mentioned in my previous blog post and as told in the title, this is a part two of my first impressions when I visited Haw River State Park for the first time. I gave background as to why and what and how in the first blog post (and you should read that one first), so we are just gonna dive right into more of my first impressions of my visit.
Although I did not see very much wildlife for the short time I was at Haw River, I did see a lot of trees. I mean a lot. There were tall trees, short trees, thick trees, thin trees. Some bare trees, some leafy trees. Fallen trees, upright trees. For the moment you have all been waiting for, I will attempt to describe these trees to you. By the end of this project, I will know their official names and other specifics, but for now, enjoy these descriptions.
Tree 1 (Webby Tree): These kinds of trees were very abundant across the park. They had lots and lots of branches that looked like a spider web and they were very tall. Additionally, some of these trees had those spikey ball things that I would hate to step on barefooted. You know which ones I am talking about, right?
Tree 2 (Green-leafed Tree): Not a very descriptive name, but these trees are difficult to describe. They had green leaves, but not “typical” leaves; the leaves were more hair-like. These trees were mixed in with the Webby Trees.
Tree 3 (Big Lake Trees): These trees were on the side of the lake where the sun rises. There was a huge abundance of them crowded together and they had lots of green leaves, from what I could tell. I assume they were evergreens, but I only know so much about trees.
Tree 4 (White Petal Tree): These trees were some of the tallest trees I had seen at the park. Towards the top of the tree, at the end of the branches, there were “white, petal like looking things on it.” (That came straight from my observation notes.)
Tree 5 (Red Petal Tree): Similar to the White Petal Tree, this tree was tall and located amongnst a mix of other unique trees. However, instead of white petals at the end of the branches, red buds grow out of the branches at the top.
Extra Tree Comments: Not about naming or describing a tree, but I noticed two trees that looked black almost. I will have to investigate this more upon my next visit as to why they look like that. As mentioned, I am no conifer connoisseur, however I have never seen or heard of black trees.
Note: I apologize for the lack of pictures in this particular blog post. I was trying to focus on the actual aspects of nature, not taking pictures of it. And frankly, my camera was not working very well, making it time-consuming and inefficient to take photos. I hope this one photo I got and my vivid descriptions will suffice until next time.
Photo by: me
Another big aspect of my visit was water. There was a big body of water, what I would assume to be a lake. The water was stagnant and murky–definitely not someplace I would want to swim at. Upon further inspection, the water was in fact moving, ever-so-slightly. There were little ripples and movements within the water. In the lake, two trees had fallen parallel to each other. At first, it looked like a reflection of the trees in the water, but in fact, the trees had fallen oh-so-perfectly in the water.
Back to the earth, to the terrain. There were lots of different levels of terrain: high, low, and even lower. While exploring this “even lower” terrain, I stumbled upon another body of water. This time it was a little creek, if you could call it that. In reality, it looked like it had either lost a lot of water or it was formed by excess rainwater. The water moved a little bit faster than the water of the lake, but it still seemed pretty stagnant. The aquatic life and terrestrial life come together as I witness a fallen tree laid out over the creek. Additionally, I can see the roots exposed from another tree nearby the creek.
To end my exploration, I sit on the edge of the lake, across from the sun. I can feel the heat of the sun, like an extra layer of warmth to comfort me on this chilly February day.
My next mission will be to learn more about the history of Haw River and the scientific names of those trees I described earlier.
