Pezzlewig and Waterfalls

I've been wandering in the hills north of Five Islands, NS, for years now. Well, at least making an annual trip. Ever since a friend from 5I pointed out where her mother said the bloodroot grows. And where something like that grows, other nice plants grow. This area was once well inhabited. On maps it is called New Britain. Another local name is Pezzlewig - I'm not sure of the spelling.

I went up there the other day, to see if the bloodroot was in boom, and to hike all over the East Branch of the Bass River, known for a few nice waterfalls and one abandoned mine adit. It was an overcast, cool day, so the bloodroot was up but not open wide. Always nice to see it. 

Standing by these flowers one happens to have a view through the trees to the islands in the Minas Basin. 

Another early bloomer in Nova Scotia is beaked hazelnut, a shrub I saw quite a bit of. The female flowers have their vibrant colours out now, and the male catkins are shedding their yellow pollen.

The falls along the river were wonderful, and there were more of them than I was expecting. I ended up hiking, up and down, up and down, for about thirteen kilometres. Well worth it.

Another spring ephemeral I found in a stand of hardwood trees was Carolina spring-beauty, just about to open. It it had been sunny, they might have been unfurled.

Always on the lookout for lichens, I saw some very nice specimens. The upper right photo, globe ball lichen, is uncommon, and indicative of old growth. The lower left is a favourite - yellow specklebelly - and this one had a few little apothecia upon it, a very rare sight. 

I was very happy to find, in a small bit of swampy woods, several black ash trees. Sacred and purposeful to the first peoples, it is not common, and I had just recently become confident at identifying it. 

Though April has not had much precipitation, and the snow in the woods is just about gone, there seemed to be plenty of water flowing. 

I did find the adit, across the river from where I hiked. I did not bother getting wet feet to see it up close or discover how well it is sealed up to prevent entry... or not. See it, with a yellow sign, up the hill across the river?

Here is the route of my ramblings. 13 + Km. This included a lot of ups and downs along the little valley of the East Branch Bass River. Not to be confused with the Bass River that flows through the village of Bass River, in the same county. 

I noticed lots of other things growing, many of which are just budding out. Spring is here; the onset is always wonderful. The photo I share is an extreme example of the fallen trees that barred my way, from time to time. Mostly red spruce, and some of them huge, they were down all over the place.