Entries by Steve Jones

Mid-December Delights and Mysteries on the WNWR Hiking and Bicycling Trail

April 9, 2026 in /by

I visited the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center and Observation Building on December 19, 2025. See my Post on welcoming the sandhill cranes (https://stevejonesgbh.com/2026/01/27/theyre-back-sandhill-cranes-return-to-alabamas-wheeler-national-wildlife-refuge/). I then hiked the refuge’s nearby Hiking and Bicycling Trail, a 5.5-mile trek south through woodland, agricultural fields, and waterfowl impoundments, and along the Flint Creek arm of Lake Wheeler. […]

Mid-December Saunter on Monte Sano Oak Park Trail

April 6, 2026 in /by

I co-led a North Alabama Land Trust Nature Hike on December 13, 2025, at Monte Sano Nature Preserve. I had never trekked the Oak Park Trail, which climbs ~300 feet up the north side of Monte Sano Mountain, returning via a counterclockwise circuit to the trailhead. Like so many of my first-time treks, I didn’t […]

Squeezing a 90-Minute Woodland Saunter into Four Hours!

April 1, 2026 in /by

I co-led a University of Alabama in Huntsville OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) Nature Hike on Saturday, March 28, 2026, with fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger. Chris led the way; I swept, bringing up the rear behind our 15 seasoned hikers (we’re predominantly retirees). We departed from the Kensington Trailhead on the North Alabama Land […]

Mid-December Above Ground Exploration at Cathedral Caverns State Park

March 24, 2026 in /by

I published a photo essay of my July 2020 Cathedral Caverns tour on October 20, 2020: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2020/10/01/wonder-below-ground-cathedral-caverns-state-park/. I pledged a subsequent visit to explore the park’s surface trails, not knowing that 5.5 years would elapse before my December 11, 2025, four-hour venture with Hannah Hembree, Park Naturalist for Cathedral and Rickwood Caverns State Parks, Amber […]

Thanksgiving Eve Fungi Encounters at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

March 11, 2026 in /by

Mushroom Potpourri   I ventured into the bottomland hardwood forest south of HGH Road, east of Jolly B. Road, on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Limestone County, Alabama, on the morning of Thanksgiving Eve, 2025. A chilly post-frontal breeze blew from the north-northwest under cloudless, cerulean skies. I hoped recent rains would bless me with […]

Re-Visiting Auburn University’s Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve and Nature Center

March 5, 2026 in /by

Arriving in Auburn on the evening of November 13, 2026, fellow retired forester (and Auburn University forestry graduate) Chris Stuhlinger, my grandson Jack (18), and I visited Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment’s (CFWE) Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve and Nature Center. I invite you to join us as we tour this fabulous education […]

Early December Nature Explorations along The Natchez Trace Parkway

February 25, 2026 in /by

On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, Judy and I made our first visit to the Natchez Trace Parkway, entering north of the Tennessee River in Alabama near Rock Spring (Mile Post 330) and exiting at the Meriwether Lewis Memorial (Post ~385) in Tennessee. The casual 55-mile journey served as a teaser for the entire 444-mile Parkway […]

Mid-November 25-Year Return to Alabama’s Chewacla State Park

February 18, 2026 in /by

Having arrived in Auburn, Alabama on Thursday evening November 13, 2026, fellow retired forester (and Auburn University forestry graduate) Chris Stuhlinger, my grandson Jack (18), and I visited the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment’s (CFWE) Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve and Nature Center, spent all day Friday at sundry engagements on AU’s campus, and hiked […]