Mushrooms, toads and snakes...

On September 26th I was finally able to get out on the OT again.  This time, for a quick afternoon hike on the Ouachita Trail, starting at mile 220, hiking to mile 217.5 and back.   This section of the OT gets a lot of day use because it is so easily accessible and close to Little Rock.  

Mile 220 of the OT is where the trail crosses highway 300 at Natural Steps.  There is a small pulloff (unofficial parking) just before the bridge over the Lake Maumelle spillway on Hwy 300.

This section of trail meanders through typical central Arkansas hardwood forest, more or less flat except for a few minor up and downs as it follows the north shoreline of lake Maumelle.  The most striking thing about this particular day was the quantity of mushrooms and toads.  There were mushrooms EVERYWHERE...   100's of mushrooms...  probably due to the recent heavy rains for days on end in this area.

Toads were jumping all over the place and, perhaps predictably, it wasn't long before I encountered a colorful hognose snake.   This one was small but doing the usual flattening and puffing up, trying to look big.   This is the second hognose I've seen on the OT in this area and both were highly colorful like this one...   don't know if that's a regional thing or just luck.  Hognose snakes vary in color more than most snakes and they're not always this bright and colorful.  Anyway, they seem to like toads for dinner and maybe this is why it was so easy to find one on the trail.