Some recent lil mushroom sightings for #FungiFriday

#mushrooms #mushroom #FungiFanatic #mushtodon #nature #hiking

This past weekend I had the joy of accompanying my partner to their annual family reunion weekend in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. We had an amazing time 😊 Lots of time on the river, home brewed beer, and laughter.

It was nice being around such warm, welcoming, and accepting people. I was meeting most of them for the first time, but our conversations flowed easily. They were real conversations too, not just chitchat/small talk. And as a family, they’re generally taking the state of the world seriously, so we were able to discuss the more serious stuff as it came up.

My favorite part of the whole thing was the nightly music circle. They’re a musical bunch, with a few professional musicians and even a couple of opera singers! Everyone who can play brought instruments, and they sat in a circle taking turns performing different classic rock songs. Singing along while looking out at the fireflies was nothing short of magical.

#nature #naturelovers #river #amateurphotography

Virgin Falls in Tennessee for #waterfallwednesday

Photo taken Sept 2022

#waterfall #nature #hiking #naturephotography #naturelovers #amateurphotography

The beautiful summit views from yesterday's #hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

And, if you look to the right, there's a rock that looks like a butt!

#hiking #nature #naturelovers #landscape #naturephotography #mountains

I decided to take advantage of yesterday's rainy/cooler weather and visited #Shenandoah National Park. I hiked the Rose River Falls loop and the Bearfence Scramble. The weather was perfect – very foggy and slightly drizzly. And the waterfalls were gushing from the recent rainfall!

Rose River Falls is one of my favorites in the park. It’s not too easy or too hard, and it follows the river most of the time so you can constantly hear the gorgeous rushing water. Plus it always has the coolest mushrooms. It’s also a sentimental hike for me, as its the one I did the day my grandmother passed away. I’ve hiked it countless times, and it never gets old.

Bearfence is a short trail, only a mile long, but it has a ton of super fun rock scramble. As adults we don’t get to climb nearly enough, and you forget how fun it can be! The summit has a beautiful 360 degree mountain view, though it was completely obfuscated by the fog yesterday. I like tacking this one on to my day when I do shorter hikes in the park, to add a little more mileage and some fun.

#hiking #nature #naturephotography #waterfall #fog #river #amateurphotography