Bernheim Arboretum

I had to resort to jumping up and down and pleading to finally get Cory out of bed and out of the cabin, but by late morning Friday we were on our way to the Bernheim Arboretum in Clermont, Kentucky.

Just inside the entrance we pulled into the parking lot of a pond to check out some Canada Geese, and also admire this London Planetree.  As they grow, they shed their bark in large patches, creating mottled trunks of cream, tan, and olive green, a sort of calico bark.  The brown fuzzy seed balls on this tree were amusing to me as we have nothing like this in southeastern Wisconsin.

There are some sculpture pieces on the propery, and also a cool stickwork piece by Patrick Dougherty called Snake Hollow.  We were like a couple of kids exploring the twists and turns.

The staff at the visitor center suggested we check out the Canopy Tree Walk and the Jackson  Yoe Loop hiking trail.  The bridge for the Canopy Tree Walk was interesting but this time of year there wasn't really much to see from it.

The Jackson Yoe Loop was more rewarding, with Cory stopping to explore a creek, and lots of opportunities to try photographing fungi and other forest scenes.  It started off easy but about halfway through turned into a steep endurance challenge for a 1.5-2 mile hike.

 

We saw a few birds and the flashing tail of a white tailed deer, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful critter-wise.  Today, however, I finally checked something off my "wildlife wish list".  Tell ya about it tomorrow!