Leaf Catching, Lunch & Learn

 

Members of the Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes chapter met at Ferrum College for a hike led by Dr. Bob Pohlad and Dr. Todd Fredericksen.  It was a sunny but windy fall morning.  Sourwood, maple, and hickory trees had turned brilliant yellow and red.  Fallen leaves were blowing around in big bunches and despite multiple attempts, several members and Todd, in particular, were unable to catch them.

Bob and Todd walked us along Ferrum’s Nature Writers Trail near Chapman Pond.  According to a 2022 article that appeared in “The Iron Blade” (Ferrum’s student newspaper), students from the Recreation Leadership program designed and built the trail over a period of eight years.  The development also involved faculty from the English, Biology, Environmental Science and Art Departments.  As we walked, Bob explained that the trail is marked with signs featuring quotes from 12 nature authors who were inspirational to the faculty.  The signs also contain a QR code that directs hikers to a library resource page with more information about the trail and the authors.  This ‘lib guide page’ can be found by clicking on:  https://libguides.ferrum.edu/NatureTrailHome. 

In addition to telling us about the trail, Bob and Todd showed us and talked about all manner of fungi, moss, lichen, lycopodium, ferns, and changing tree leaf color.  We also spotted a resident Great Blue Heron near the pond and Todd found a barn spider which he explained is the title character in E. B. White’s Charlottes’s Web—circling back nicely to the subject of literature!

Thank you Bob and Todd for a very pleasant and interesting hike.  And thanks to all who brought food for our delicious picnic afterward.

Submitted by Beth P.