Inniswood was a bit of a cheating place to start, I will admit. I absolutely love this place, and go here all the time to re-center myself. I used to take my dad here, and we spent a lot of time looking at birds and squirrels together. But – I hadn’t come with the express purpose of taking my time and looking at everything, so here we are.
Inniswood is great because it’s both a nature walk and a garden space. Today, I decided to focus on the outer loops that go through the woods and the Sister’s Garden as opposed to the central garden spaces. It’s about 2.3 miles or so, mostly wooden walkways and well-packed trails.
As is apparently my wont, I headed off to the right-hand Boardwalk trail first. Elevated and well maintained, it’s a great way go begin. It had just rained, so anytime I’d like to climb off the pathway, I’d need to be more careful than normal.
Because of all the rain, the forest was filled with fresh, new growth, and smelled that lovely combination of wet, new leaves, and just a touch of decay. Perfect for a morning wander. The staff is kind enough to provide a wildflower guide for the trails, and I happily scooped it up. There are very few things I enjoy more than free educational material. It’s still a touch early for most of the wildflowers, but I did find a few starting to peek out of the loam.
Right away, though I was delighted to find that all the rain DID produce large numbers of two of my favorite plants – ferns and mushrooms. You’ll probably very soon tire of the mushroom pictures, but I love them. You can take a microbiologist and put her to work in the entertainment industry, but you’re never going to be able to stop the fungus love.
All the rain meant that there were fungi all over the place. I’m still waiting for my field identification book to arrive, so in the meantime, you’re free from too many genus and species names. For now.
Once you finish the first section of the Boardwalk Trail, you can make a slight turn and end up on Spring Run. This one is half boardwalk, half dirt, and was littered with tons of puddles to either avoid or splash through, depending on your footwear choices. I chose to go around today, since I was hoping to stay at least a little dry.
Spring Run was much lusher than Boardwalk, and I started seeing more wildflowers!
The trail passes through an open field full of birdhouses for the native populations, and a ton of flowering dogwoods. Dogwoods are one of my favorite spring trees, and it was great to see so many in bloom.
Not too far after plunging back into the woods, I started hearing more and more water. The trail winds upward to an overlook over a creek that bisects the back section of the park, but I figured there was a waterfall somewhere. I was not wrong, and I managed to not kill myself climbing down to it. I was rewarded with a secluded waterfall with lots of tadpoles and the sound of rushing water.
During the climb back up, I was lucky enough to see this completely amazing millipede crawling through the tree roots. Now, in Texas, we have giant centipedes that can bite and do serious damage. I couldn’t remember if this guy was a biter, so I decided not to indulge my normal biologist urges and pick it up. Later, I was told that they don’t in fact bite, and that if you shake them ever so gently they smell like almonds. I’m wondering if that is from the cyanide that they can produce. Luckily, I’ve got some amazing entomologist friends who will know.
As you make your way out of the Spring trail, you can then head down the hill through the Japanese stream garden (which I love) and into the Sister’s Garden. This area is one of my favorites. It’s set up as a discovery area for children, with a First Nation’s story garden, a secret, tumbled down garden hidden on the walk, treehouses, and elevated walkways. It also has an area with a tiny “farmhouse” and prairie grass. I love going in here, and the secret garden is just full of fun things to find hidden in the walls. Like the frog I found hanging out on top of the bricks.
Coming off of the short but fun Sisters Loop Trail, I headed back towards the car and my lunch, which I was now thinking about quite a bit. The outer loop cuts behind the Education Pavilion (which I want to dance at, for reasons) and pops back up at the front. The fields under the trees are full of Lily of the Valley, which is one of my absolute favorite plants. I just LOVE how tiny they are. When I was little, I assumed that the faeries played them like bells. Still not convinced they don’t.
Finally, Lunch! Before we even get started, you should know that I have a Thing for mason jars. It’s a disease of sorts. I absolutely love them. If I could stuff a sandwich into a mason jar, I would, but so far no luck with such. Still looking for the appropriate jar.
In the meantime, my mother was kind enough to lend me her vintage Longaberger lunch basket. I’ve recently replaced my glass bottle, so I filled that up with green tea and brought it along as well. For lunch today, along with raspberries and almonds, I brought a hard-boiled egg for some more protein, and a small version of this amazing sandwich from Broma Bakery – the Green Thumb. Full of yogurt dressing, cucumbers, alfalfa, and goat cheese. I made mine on 3-cheese bread. So amazing.
I think for my next hike, I’ll go explore parts of Battelle Darby Creek. I hear they have buffalo there!