Hiking Assateague Island

On Monday, June 18th, we spent the morning hiking the various trails of the Chincoteauge Wildlife Refuge, including the Wildlife Loop, Marsh Trail, Black Duck Trail, and Woodlands Trail (with a bonus trek to the Assateague National Seashore to eat lunch and to get a reprieve from the hundreds of biting mosquitos we encountered on the trails).  Theses walks through the various habitats of Assateague Island accompanied our reading and discussion of Henry David Thoreau's "Walking."  As the reflections attest, the challenge of warding off the hungry mosquitos--especially in the thick of the marsh--poked some holes in Thoreau's romantic defense of the art of theWalkers; however, there were enough moments of surprise and wonder along that allowed us to look past the persistence of the biting bloodsuckers and appreciate the subtle gifts offered by a walk in the woods, through the marsh, and on the shore.

White Ibis

Birds in Wildlife Loop

Egrets and gulls along the Wildlife Loop