First hike at Tolleston Dunes. I was not yet attuned to looking for the details in the forest. When hiking along trails like these it is easy for the mind to get overwhelmed by all of the trees, bushes, plants, etc. But once you start getting used to spotting those tiny little flashes of color that signify a wild flower or some other interesting object, thats when the brain starts to train itself to see and all of a sudden you begin seeing interesting things everywhere.
The first quarter of the trail is on level terrain, the rest however follows the tops of dune ridges. This is the climb up to the first ridge. The elevation change is not big, but a 10 degree slope in soft sand can feel like a lot more work than it should be.
At first I thought some inconsiderate person had left a smashed cantaloupe in the middle of the trail. But upon closer inspection this turned out to be a mushroom known as Chicken of the Woods.
Here is a good example of what I mean by your brain learning how to pick out interesting things amidst the seemingly overwhelming green foliage. The slightly different shade of green and non-leaf like shape of this Tree Frog caught my attention.
This scene was strongly backlit so the colors are not great. But look closely and you will see many different forms of Fungi, Lichens and Moss on this downed tree.
This lovely Orb Weaver was having a little bite to eat when I spotted them. It was so small that I could not get my camera to autofocus on it, no matter what I tried the focus would always grab onto the foliage on the ground beneath it. I had to manually focus to get the shot.
My lovely wife who taught me to see the little details on our hikes. Not too much further down the path she spotted a snake which slithered off into the underbrush too quickly for me to get a glimpse.
The first spiny puffball I ever saw. I was fascinated by its combination of beauty and weirdness.
I think this was the first time I saw a cactus in the midwest. Having lived in Arizona for a while I was quite familiar with prickly pear cacti, but I never would have thought they could survive in this climate.