Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” Winnie the Pooh I’ll never forget my first encounter with a black bear in the wild. It was 1972 and along with…

The sound was unmistakable and led me outdoors to face the thick woods across the road. In the advancing twilight the sound pierced the darkness again, and then again. The ghostly mournful wail, best described as a lonely whinny with “tremulous” descending pitch, could only…

“I imagine the turtles are developing quickly this hot summer. The embryos in the earlier eggs of the season must have reached the point at which they begin involuntary movements. With the first exercise and the increased metabolism it brings, they are preparing for the…

“Fireflies create a magic that transcends time and space. Their resplendent displays change ordinary landscapes into places ethereal and otherworldly.” From Silent Sparks: The Wonderous World of Fireflies by Sara Lewis. Folks in our neck of the woods enjoy the 4th of July with their…

“What finer time of year could one ask for in which to be born than on a day in June? Here on this old farm, which seems the perfect setting for two so interested in the out-of-doors as Nellie and I, another birthday finds me…

“Now all buds may swell, methinks; now the summer may begin for all creatures.” May 5, 1852, From the Journal of Henry David Thoreau Two weeks ago, I stepped out into the early morning chill to watch the sunrise paint the eastern horizon. Silently welcoming…

I’ll never forget my first encounter with a black bear in the wild. It was 1972 and I spent spring vacation hiking and camping in Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Mountains with two high school friends. One night a black bear visited our…

“Now is that sweet unwritten moment when all things are possible, are just begun. The little tree is not quite leafed. The mate not yet chosen. For the rambler in the woods all that he can find in heavy books will be less worth what…

“February is still Winter, often is full of snow, but its changing light marks the season unmistakably. By February’s end it is still daylight, though somewhat dim, at 6:00 in the evening. By then we know that March and April and Spring are just ahead.”…

At The Last Green Valley (TLGV) we call January “Eagle Month,” and for good reason. It’s when bald eagles return in greater numbers to the National Heritage Corridor, and we lead outdoor adventures to see these amazing birds in the wild. During the cold of…

“On this, the shortest day of all the 365, I wander over covered paths of the garden hillside. I wade through the drifts along the swamp edge. I walk over the snow-covered ice among the cattails. The wind is gone. The day is still. The…