Lewis & Clark Trip Day 1: Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (5/8/2021)

Saturday, May 8, 2021

We are following the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Originally the trail (not a literal dirt trail!) extended from St Louis, MO to Astoria, OR. In March 2019, the Eastern Legacy extension was officially added to the trail, with the start in Pittsburgh, PA.

We started with Meriwether Lewis's preparations for the expedition, first from Washington, DC to Harpers Ferry to Lancaster, PA (3/26-27/2021). We continued with a trip to Philadelphia, PA (4/8/2021). Then it was back to DC, to Harpers Ferry, and on to Pittsburgh, PA (4/9-10/2021).

The Lewis & Clark Expedition, officially the Corps of Discovery Expedition, had the principal objective of surveying (explore and map) the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, and locating routes (preferably by water) that would connect the continental interior to the Pacific Ocean. Further, they were to establish an American presence in the new Louisiana Territory by developing diplomatic and trade relations with the indigenous peoples, and scouting out sites for forts and trading posts. Just as importantly, they were to observe and record the flora and fauna, and geologic features they encountered.

Because we had already followed Meriwether Lewis from Pittsburgh to Steubenville, today we fast-forwarded to Steubenville, OH, with a stop ay the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. Advance timed tickets were required, but due to our Tyler Arboretum membership, we did not pay admission. The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is one of the top ten largest American botanical gardens, covering 452 acres.

The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is located in
Settler's Cabin Park in the Pittsburgh suburb of Oakdale, PA

The art gallery featured Hydrangea Carnival (2020)

A sign warned that the Podophyllum peltatum/
Mayapple is toxic except for its fruit

The Mayapple flower is below the leaves

Oak leaf impressions in the sidewalk in
the Garden of the Five Senses

Kent plays with the sense of hearing

It was peak season for the Cornus florida/
Flowering Dogwood

There were a variety of nesting boxes;
Andrew's House was for a smaller species

Apiary, supposedly for Apis mellifera/European Honeybees

Display of beekeeper tools

Passing the Hermit Hut

Bookworm Glen

A wooden creature of Bookworm Glen (KSS)

Storybook House in Bookworm Glen

Gnome House in Bookworm Glen

From far away, it looked like this fungus was painted gold;
perhaps Entoloma vernum/Pinkgill Mushroom

The Lotus Pond

Branta canadensis/Canada Geese with goslings

Kent crosses the slightly
inundated Stepping Stones

A plank zig-zag path? (KSS)

Tamiko in the Giant Bird Nest (KSS)

Meadows Edge where Kent learned a healthy meadow
requires mowing only once every three years,
to remove woody plants

Still too early for the Pollinator Garden,
except for the rusty metal flowers

Camassia quamash/Small Camas with an
edible root bulb will be introduced later to
Lewis & Clark by the Shoshone and Nez Perce

Aesculus x arnoldiana 'Autumn Splendor'/
Autumn Splendor Buckeye

We missed the spring bulb flowers!

The chicken topiary needs some trimming

Homestead apple orchard

Walker-Ewing-Glass Log Cabin (c 1780)

Homestead chicken coop

Next: Steubenville, OH Murals.