Today some families from our homeschool group went for a hike in Duke Forest. One of the moms used to work there, and she led the hike and told us about the ecology and management of the Forest. It's owned by Duke University, and they use the land for research. About 100 years ago it was all meadow. It had been farmland, but when the farmers abandoned farming in favor of factory work, pine trees started to spring up. Several girls from our Girl Scout troop worked on some of the requirements for a forest Try-It badge during the hike.
The most exciting part was crossing New Hope Creek. The sidewalk was underwater, so we all took off our shoes and socks and splashed across (and back, and across, and back, and....).
The end destination was an old farm site. I was bringing up the rear with Audrey and her friend Deanna, and we didn't make it that far. We picked up lots of pieces of quartz, then found a stump to sit on and eat our snacks. The rest of the group explored the ruins of the farm and ate snacks there. Mary carried her own pack because I knew we would be going at different speeds. The weather was great. It was a beautiful day for a hike.
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