Time in a bottle

We found this old milk bottle today on our five mile hike.  There were no markings on it but we think it was probably one of those with the thin aluminum foil type top that crimped over the opening.   But it the bottle was a whole new world..growing tiny plants or moss.   We have no clue of how long the bottle was on the ground near the river bottom area.  This area floods so who knows how long it took for the soil to settle and the plants to be rerooted.  And then what sunshine was on it to help it grow.   Of course I brought it home to clean up and add to my bottle collection.

We decided to hike in the Sumter National Forest a few miles from Jerry's hunt camp and on the opposite side of the river.   He hunted close to this area years ago (like 30 or 40!).   Anyway the dead end dirt road has old logging roads that go to two separate rivers.   The Enoree River was a 3 mile road trip.   When we got closer to the river the old road bed disappeared and we walked the deer trails.  The river cane (a small kind of bamboo) was over my head and we had to walk through this for short ways.   I felt like an explorer going where no one had gone before!!    But we did come to the Enoree River about a mile above where it dumps into the Broad River.   At this point it was not very wide and I really could not get good photos because of the density of the forest area.  It was a pretty little river.  


We walked back out to the car, ate lunch and then decided to walk the other old road there that Jerry said would take us to the Broad River.  It was a nice walk as we came up to a very pretty pond.  I am sure when there is a flood this area is underwater since it was a little boggy and wet in places already.   So we continued on to the river.   We actually were across the river from a location we knew well.    Curtis was a friend of Jerry's from his work who is no longer with us but we spent time with him at his river house before he died.

Back to the car after this 2 mile round trip and then home.   My poor Gypsy dog is banned from long hikes now as she could not even get herself in the car when we opened the door.  We had to lift her back legs and help her.  She has hip joint issues and is almost 12 years.     Her old legs just can't do this type of walking anymore.  It makes me sad as she is a great trail dog.   But she can do short walks without hills!  

In the extra is a collage of some of the views today.  You can see the house and deck across the Broad River in one of the photos.  If you notice my big butt pocket in my photo, it is full of all the little things I collected..a feather from a crow (we think), seed pods from wisteria (we think), a piece of funky looking moss and a little tiny pine cone.   We saw many trees gnawed by beavers and many big curly vines.   We could not figure out why that turkey vulture was floating overhead since we did not smell anything dead near us.  A little spooky there!  

A good day with perfect hiking weather!!