Entries by Steve Jones

A Unique Forest at Prattville, Alabama’s Wilderness (Bamboo) Park

  On December 17, 2024, Judy and I visited Pratville’s Alabama’s Wilderness Park. We resided in Prattville from 1981 to early 1985, when our two children were still under ten. We visited the park occasionally during that period and decided that while in the Montgomery area, we should stop by the 30-acre preserve. Our kids […]

Perfect Autumn Morning Hiking at Hickory Cove Nature Preserve

On November 23, 2024, fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger and I co-led an OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Alabama in Huntsville) hike at Hickory Cove Nature Preserve near Huntsville. Owned and managed by the Land Trust of North Alabama, the preserve encompasses 146 acres of second-growth hardwood forest, rocky ledges, wet weather springs […]

Early December Circuit of Jones Branch Trail at Shoal Creek Nature Preserve

Fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger and I hiked the Jones Branch Trail on December 9, 2024, at the Shoal Creek Nature Preserve near Florence, Alabama. The preserve’s website: The Shoal Creek Nature Preserve (dedicated by Forever Wild resolution as the Billingsley-McClure Shoal Creek Preserve) allows visitors to explore 298 acres of fallow fields, mature upland […]

Intergenerational Woodland Venture at Wade Mountain Nature Preserve

On Monday, November 25, 2024, Alabama grandsons Jack (17) and Sam (11) hiked the Devil’s Racetrack Trail with me at the Wade Mountain Nature Preserve near Huntsville, Alabama. The 935-acre preserve includes the 1,453′ elevation Wade Mountain summit. The racetrack loop circles a lesser peak at 1,050′. We covered just under four miles…not bad for […]

At the Cross Section of Nature and Holiday Festivity

I know the date is January 31, 2025! Thirty-six days after Christmas. Why am I posting a Christmas-themed Great Blue Heron photo essay? I published a full essay earlier this week focussed around a typical Nature-Inspired Life and Living theme. This essay has a mood that I want to persist year-round. Although this one presents […]

Blackwell Swamp and Rockhouse Bottom in Early October on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (Part Two)

On October 6, 2024, a little longer than six weeks since my total right knee replacement surgery, I ventured to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge to gently explore Buckeye Impoundment, Blackwell Swamp, and Rockhouse Bottom by automobile and dirt road strolling. Not yet ready for woodland trail wandering, I welcomed the fresh air, seasonal transition signs, […]