After the Mushroom Foray

The mushroom foray we went on was a really nice break from the normal classes of the week and definitely was something to look forward to. Such a pleasant time just stumbling through the forest with eyes wide open trying to find one of the things I love most ~mushrooms. It was bliss.

On another note...When we all were headed back home and back to campus most of the group got lifts back in cars. Cassie and I decided to walk back through the publicly accessible arboretum on the north side of Stone - across from where we held the foray.

The walk we had was full of interesting moments. We had a difficult time of finding the path through the forest, but were in no real rush (the best possible case for walks). Once we had found a path through some fairly thick brush, we stumbled upon a small lake with an island at the center. It was dead calm and the reflection of the other sides was nearly perfect on the glassy surface. A little further down the path we found a large patch of mushrooms, meters and meters across; a far larger grouping than we had found earlier. Lastly, we were walking along and saw through the brush two white tailed deer. We stared quietly at them as they stared back. They slowly turned to walk away and we followed, our paths parallel to theirs. The deer stalked through the forest for some time and we decided after a while to leave them be. Continuing along the path through the arboretum we eventually found the boardwalk that leads back to the entrance near East Residences.

I can honestly say that what we encountered on the short walk back home was unexpected, but I'm certainly glad Cassie and I decided to take a way home that neither of us was familiar with. Those kinds of walks tend to be the most rewarding.
This is a video of the deer we found along the path.