Over 30 years living here in Manitoba, and neither my husband nor I have been to these forest trails right in our city. We had a couple of hours and knew that we could all use a dose of time in nature, so we made our way to this place. This place that calmed us and excited us at the same time. We felt as though we were miles from the city as we breathed in the fresh fall air, and the smell of the forest floor and all of its life. So much life packed so densely into this tiny breadth of trail next to the river… some of which we have tried to identify – please feel welcome to tell us what you think our botanical finds might be!
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…
Toppled tree roots, with hands as a reference for size.
What could be more awesome than this bridge?
…umm, this woodland chess set might be.
Tree layers (found this way – we ask the children to not peel off the bark).
What we believe are shaggy ink caps. Some sources say they are edible while white (please check with an expert, first!).
What we believe are shaggy ink caps near the end of their life cycle. We read not to eat these once they’ve turned black. We are not quite confident enough to harvest and eat any wild mushrooms just yet, though we’re quickly falling in love with their character and unique beauty. We highly suggest looking up a shaggy ink cap time lapse on youtube.
Someone before us left a gift for the birds and furry friends.
Wild cucumber. While we read that the roots are used medicinally, the fruits should not be eaten. For more information see the link at the bottom of the post.
Autumn.
For information on identification and anatomy of Wild Cucumber, check out the Nature Manitoba Wild Cucumber fact sheet.