It’s official: The final 8 p.m. sunset of the year has passed us by. The meteorological summer is nearly done and dusted.
Welcome back, Outdoorsy friends. Here’s the lineup:
All skill levels welcome: We list 10 spots for hiking and nature walks in and around Media.
Planting native species: How gardeners do it down the Shore.
Slow rebuild: Why Lemon Hill’s caretakers are concerned about the city’s promise to restore the park.
☂️ Your weekend weather outlook: Friday should be decent, while rains may dampen Saturday and Sunday.
— Paola Pérez (outdoorsy@inquirer.com)
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An Outdoorsy reader named Bill Moore was searching for scenic trails around Media for his church group of middle-aged and senior adults. So I checked in with my colleagues on The Inquirer’s Greater Media desk, and they gladly took on the challenge, narrowing down 10 suggestions that are suitable for every skill level.
Here’s a preview:
🌳 Tyler Arboretum boasts 17 miles of hiking trails, including the 1.07-mile paved Scenic Loop (stroller, wheelchair accessible). Some more rugged experiences like the 7.9-mile Minshall Trail will take about four hours to complete, and gains nearly 1,000 feet in elevation.
🐦 Hildacy Preserve spans 55 acres of meadows that draw a number of bird species to gawk at while you hike. The Hildacy Preserve Loop clocks in at 1.8 miles and is considered easy. All paths are unpaved.
🌊 Newlin Grist Mill is a historic property featuring 8.5 miles across seven trails, some which wander along or cross the water (pictured above). It’s free to enter.
Get the full details on these trails and others around the borough.
News worth knowing
Upper Darby residents are rallying to save the “Mozino Forest” from mixed-use development plans. Locals have long used the private, unmaintained forested land to walk, hike, and commune with nature.
A “historic” El Niño developing in the Pacific Ocean could mean a gentler Atlantic hurricane season, and maybe less risk of flooding in Philadelphia.
Now that FIFA Fan Fest has come and gone, Lemon Hill’s caretakers fear the city’s $4 million in park upgrades won’t include the long-term maintenance funding they’ve long asked for.
An 8-year-old kid from Delco is reeling with fame as as budding fishing influencer after catching a piranha in Ridley Park Lake.
The hazy skies may have mostly cleared, but wildfire season is far from over. Approximately 17.5 million acres of land have burned so far this year across the United States and Canada combined.
🍄🟫 Your outdoorsy experience
Shoutout to Outdoorsy reader Barbara B., who spotted this cool-looking (and humongous) wild fungus:
It’s quite large! Bigger than my head for sure. Appeared on the base of a weeping cherry tree after the recent rains at Ashbridge Park in Lower Merion.
Thanks for sharing!
If you’re into mushroom-curious, check out Jason Nark’s story about the Pennsylvania woman who wants to demystify mycology: “When it comes to wild mushroom foraging, Barbora Batokova has a simple rule for beginners: learn what can kill you, then go have fun.”
What are you doing or seeing out there? Send me an email with any recent or past happenings (plus pictures, if you have them). You may see it featured here.
🎤 Here’s Terri Akman with a report for The Inquirer on Shore gardeners’ efforts to plant native vegetation.
Virginia Rettig’s garden is her passion.
The 60-foot-by-100-foot plot on her Cape May property boasts about 200 varieties of native plants, which she estimates have drawn roughly 135 wildlife species. Monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, cardinals, gray catbirds, moths, and a host of other creatures suck nectar from her flowers and drink water from the small waterfall that flows into a pond.
Once she even saw a black-billed cuckoo, a rarity in Cape May.
“During spring and fall migration, millions of birds fly through Cape May County, and every blade of vegetation is critically important for them when they need to stop for food,” Rettig said.
Rettig owns Cape NativeScapes in Cape May. After a 30-year career in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she is sharing her knowledge and passion for managing wildlife habitats by helping clients create native gardens.
She’s found plenty of customers who live at the Shore and want to help — not hinder — native species with their own landscaping choices. Nearly 80% of self-identified gardeners incorporate native plants into their outdoor spaces, according to gardening consumer research organization Simple Spring. And over a third dedicate a quarter to half of their garden to local flora. — Terri Akman
Read on about the growing popularity of planting native species and how it serves the environment.
Paola’s picks
🌧️ A quote: “August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
🦈 A debate: Was that a really prehistoric shark tooth discovered near Townsend’s Inlet?
🤩 An activity: Take a scenic hike through Lloyd Hall (Saturday at 9:30 a.m.; free).
🦊 A wild read: A pack of West Hollywood coyotes occupied an abandoned housing development.
🌡️ A song: “Warm Like Summer” by Braids.
A serenading view
Loris Assadian, a viral French singer-songwriter and animal advocate known as Plumes, stopped by the Philadelphia Zoo this week with his signature flamingo-pink guitar to serenade the tortoises.
👋🏽 Until next time.
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