The Red Pond

It was a sunny day and we wanted to go somewhere for a nice hike. We'd talked about Quehanna Wild Area, but in the end, we didn't feel like spending so much time in the car to get there. So we decided to go to the former Dry Hollow property instead. I looked forward to checking out the vernal ponds there.

We grabbed our daysacks and our chairs and hiked up the graveled road a ways. We walked up a hill and sat in a spot where we had sat before. There was a big dip in the landscape nearby, and my husband walked over for a look. Was there a pond there? It looked like there should be. But we'd never noticed one before.

My husband walked back with this report: yes, there WAS a pond there. And it looked like there was pollen on top of it. When he said pollen, of course, I thought of pollen rainbows. So I walked over to look myself, and discovered the biggest vernal pond I've seen yet on the Dry Hollow property (easily twice the size of the one I often photograph there). And the color on top was NOT pollen rainbows, but some kind of red grass.

So we set our chairs up nearby, and I walked down to the edge to look for amphibians. I did indeed see and hear some: a very nice big frog, some huge tadpoles, and a host of sassy newts squiggling across the surface. We both marveled (as we did that one day over on Sandy Ridge) that there would be a pond on TOP of a hill. It doesn't seem like water would do that, would stay there. But it does.

When we walked out, a few hours later, we opted for a side path that took us through some briars and other vegetation. There was another pond to see, but without any amphibs in it. No idea why some ponds have them and others don't. We ended up with about a four-mile day. It was good to get some fresh air and exercise.

Oh, there is always a price to pay, though, isn't there? I got a thorn in my thumb, scraped my wrist on briars until it bled, and got poked with countless spiky things through my pant legs. I also picked four ticks off me back at the car. So be ye warned: there are amphibs here, but there are also spiky things and ticks!

My soundtrack song is for the red grasses that seemed to give it a strange looking red hue: Warrant, with I Saw Red.