May 3, 2022
Lake Russell-Nancy Town Lake Loop
Today was a warm and sunny day with dry trails in good condition showing regular maintenance... except for the missing bridge across Nancy Town Creek below the dam. A few of our hikers were able to take a shortcut and rock hop across the creek rather than continue around Nancy Town Lake. There were quite a few wild flowers throughout the hike. We even saw a few critters along the way such as a King snake, Garter snake, Black Cormorant, Armadillo (RIP) and an unknown large and long crawling beetle. We were all surprised to see a large lone egg in a nest beside the lake's edge. Hopefully the mama came back shortly! It was another beautiful day for hiking!
The route
6.0 mi · 469 ft climbing · 4h 44m out, 4h 2m walking · 1.5 mph moving
Elevation
Hover over the profile to see the elevation and steepness. Your position will be shown on the map.
- Steepness
- Gentle under 5%
- Moderate 5–10%
- Steep 10–15%
- Very steep over 15%
Photos (33)
An artsy trail sign for our hike today around Lake Russell & Nancy Town Lake. Today's hikers (L-R): Londa, Angela, Ray, Gary, Jenny, Beth, Dick, Lynn, Tim, Mike, Esther, Rich & Libb Getting to know some of our new hikers before hitting the trail. And off we go! Nice trails overall. A break at the Lake Russell Beach. Some Lake Russell views. Crossing the spillway of the Lake Russell Dam. Can't explain this tree growth! This deceased armadillo would bring a smile to Vic Robson. "Galls may form on any part of the plant. The abnormal growths are due to the powerful enzymes given off by the immature gall-forming insect as it grows." Pretty, but maple eyespot galls are brightly colored red and yellow spots that appear on the surface of red maple leaves caused by the Ocellate gall midge One of the critters we spooked up. We believe it to be a large Eastern Kingsnake. An immature Black Cormorant and some "admiring" turtles sharing a log. Tim Hale identified this 3-4 inch critter as a Hellgrammite, the aquatic larvae of the eastern dobsonfly Wildflowers and one of many very large cinnamon ferns seen on the earthen dam of Lake Russell This was a 3-4 inch long egg seen in its nest. Perhaps from a Cormorant ??? We can't overlook the resident beavers on the southeast side of the lake. Perhaps one of the best finds today was this single Nodding Trillium (Trillium rugelii) . We also saw a number of Catesby's Trillium (Trillium catesbaei) scattered along the trail. . . terrible photo. This solitary Fire Pink (Silene virginica) was a surprise. Beth McDonald took a nice shot of this Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana). Mountain laurel was showing off throughout this area. Lots of other small wildflowers in bloom. Eastern Mayapple (Amsonia tabernaemontana) in bloom and with fruit. Several examples of Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) seen. Even the Common rush (Juncus effusus) was attractive. This Lake Russel Trail is know for a large number of Yellow buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica). More wildflowers seen! Yellow stargrass and White blue-eyed grass (lower) seen today. This example of multiple blooms on this Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana) is a bit unusual. Trees showing off (UL clockwise): Large leaves of Red Oak; Alder cones; Tulip Poplar bloom & Mapleleaf viburnum. Trail pics of our hikers including an encounter with a mountain biker. Pictures of Nancy Town Creek below the dam toward the end of our hike.