Exploring

I know this trail well, I've done it several times but never in the winter. So after discovering this valley of ice one of my friends who I met through the gym asked if she could go along. She wasn't sure if she could handle a long hike but I told her we could cut it short.

I told Pat that my favorite way to hike was to stop and look at things and not hurry as if we were in a competition.

I found out that she is that way also. When she found Turkey Tail Mushrooms on a log she had to stop and investigate and photo them. We found tiny branches with burls on them and she collected them along with some fascinating Lichen we found on a stick in the trail.

This is Pat's winter Lego person investigating mosses we found on an old white pine stump.

I was 'hunting' ice and we found quite a bit of it.

We stopped here and I was enamored with the ice and the pines. Pat found more fungi and interesting pine cones. She explored mosses and whatever else captured her attention.

We marveled at the Hemlock trees that clung to the small bluffs.

We had a pretty good laugh at one of the little stream crossings that had thin ice and water flowing. 

I tested the ice like a goofball and jumped on it.

I broke through the ice. I fell on my butt with my boots in the water and jumped up and across the stream.

I'm not sure what Pat thought, but I laughed with such joy that she decided join in. My one foot probably got wet but my butt was dry.

I asked her if she thought I was crazy and she just smiled. Then she bent down to take a photo of the tiny stream. She jumped the stream and went on.

When we got back to the parking area, I informed her that we'd done just over 5 miles and I asked her how she felt. She said fine. The point was, we were going on an adventure not on a strict hike. The steps went by as we enjoyed nature and each others quiet company.

I asked if she'd do it again. Affirmative. She enjoyed herself.

Through this past year and the death of my husband, Pat has quietly given me support and listened to me without judgement. She doesn't tell me how to get through it and offers none of the platitudes that others give out. On some days when we meet at the gym and work out with the group, she brings me a 'Care Supper'. 

I am finding that this quiet unassuming southerner is probably one of the best girlfriends I could ever have.

I am looking forward to more exploring with her. They will be trails I've already familiar with, but to take another person with fresh eyes is always a special delight.

 

Afternoon delight

I have to admit, I am pretty rusty at taking water photos on the fly. Our creek dried up a couple of years ago after the great 2019 flood and the 5 years of drought we had. Our creek still has tiny springs here and there, but it is mostly a dry bed until Mother Nature decides to remodel again.

Yesterday was one of those crazy days.

Kristi texted me and asked if I wanted to come over and we could visit and do 'something'. Yep, I was up for it after the gym.

I grabbed Charlie and we left for who knows what kind of 'something' Kristi had in mind. After we hung out for a while and chatted, she suggested we go on a hike.

This is her photo below. When I found out we were heading into a valley with a stream, I was like a little kid. Time to play in the water!

My OM camera has a built in Neutral Density filter so here I was trying to take a 1/4 sec exposure of the water flowing over the rocks.

I walked through the stream to squat down and shoot a couple of quick shots. I'm never quite sure how new hiking partners will tolerate my propensity to stop and 'shoot' a lot. So i was quick at it.

This camera has some dang fine stabilization built in.

I then turned and looked up the valley. The south facing hillside was lit up with brilliant brown/orange light that reflected on the stream. I told Kristi that I could easily spend hours in just this one spot.

My sneaky friend took shots of me playing in the water. Charlie had a blast keeping us both supervising.

There was so much to see and Kristi wanted to show me more of the valley and the stream.

I will admit, that I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. I kept oohing and ahhing and dropping down into the water and picking up rocks.

If things were left up to me, I'd just build me a little hut in the valley and hang out with the stream. So much to see and explore!

 

Interesting start to the new year

Essentials in life.
Quiet time.
Puzzles.
Reflection on self.
Movement.

Nature's healing atmosphere.

Play.

I have a lot on my plate to get done now that it is the first of the year. But a friend of mine suggested I come over to her house Friday. 
We chatted and worked on a puzzle. Well, she worked on it, I watched. 

She invited Charlie over too. He was a complete gentleman with their toy dogs and her kids. He even went downstairs to visit with Kristi's elderly mom.

I have taxes to sort you know, paperwork to file. Calls to try and straighten out an auto deposit, and things to gather for our income taxes and changes for the past year. None of that sounds even remotely fun.

But it is the first days of the new year. And it is the weekend. So I decided to work on my Speed Champions set I'd picked up for when I had company who enjoyed building Legos.

I don't normally like working on Lego vehicles. The last cool one Rich and I built together was a mess and not designed well. 

This set has a great design and is challenging. The box says it is for 10+ years old. Parts of the build really took amazing brain power.

I found it peaceful to work on in the evenings. AND I really dig the sports car. It seems my Monsters do too.

Let's go get pizza!!!!!

Kristi asked what I was doing Saturday. I said that Charlie and I were probably going to take a hike. The weather looked better for the afternoon.

She said she'd like to go too. I cocked an eye and said "It's a 5 mile hike, you in?" 

"Sure." 

Aside from friend Bill, I've not really had any of my gym or other friends actually want to go with me on long hikes. 

I am super blessed to have young and adventurous friend[s]. 

I packed my YakTraks [the trails would be icy and packed] and brought a pair for her. 

Of course, the Master Hiker led the way and kept us on track.

We stopped at 'his' stump so he could pose for us.

The weather was perfect about 18 degrees F [-7.7 C] with a whisper of a breeze. 

The conversation was all over the place and quiet while we climbed hills and navigated tree roots buried under snow and ice.

We both felt very peaceful hiking together. I don't have to worry about Kristi's keeping up. She is more than 20 yrs younger than I am and is an exceptional athlete. She is getting ready to do a competition next month and she felt that some difficult hikes with me would be good for her stamina. 

That made me chuckle. Her friendship has opened up social activities for me that are fun. We even discussed plans to go Kayaking this summer on the Kickapoo River together with her family.

Maybe the new year may not be as bad as I thought.

...and I am almost ready for Monday and all the crappy paperwork I have to do.

What Challenges do you face?

 

How about doing a the Trail Challenge with a toddler? We took Aiden with us yesterday -- Charlie too. This little guy will turn 2 in a few months. 

At one time I was told that Charlie was too tiny of a dog to accomplish something like the Trail Challenge of 59+ miles. We did it.

A week ago, as I was hiking with Olive on one of our uncharted adventures, I mentioned the Trail Challenge. She mentioned that her hubby and she wanted to do some serious backpacking with Aiden this coming year.

What better way to get in shape but to hike locally on tough trails? When she got home, she printed up two copies of the 2023 Trail Challenge. One for her, one for me. 

I think I said something about trying this Challenge back to back one time. But I think I was kidding.

Now I am not.  

I suggested a trail hike on Sunday morning while the snow was still crisp but the temperatures still fairly mild. I asked if she'd like to bring Aiden along and we could put him in a sled and pull him on the snow. The answer was yes.

Olive negotiates coming down a steep
hill with Aiden in the sled.

The little adventure was a win for everyone. 

Charlie got to hike and enjoy a nice long walk, 

Aiden got to ride in a sled and play in the snow. 

Olive and I got to do the girl talk thing, and Olive's hubby got a break from the little guy! 

Aiden enjoyed the weather so much that when mom tried convince him to 'come along' he did this...

And...this:

I think he was telling us to...

Stop

And

Enjoy.

You just can't be in a hurry with little people along. 

I guess we/I are/am doing the Trail Challenge again. So here we go...

The Yellow was intentional and the pink line was an exploration to see if the ponds by the bird viewing area still had ice. The ponds were still iced over. But we still finished one more tiny section.

We had seen two swans on the Kickapoo River on our drive to the Reserve.

Happy Challenges!

Hay Valley Spring Hike

It was time for our second Annual Spring Hike at Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Fellow Blogger Aurora [equine expressions] and I studied the weather and decided to go for it this week.

Not only was she early to our meet up place, she said she didn't get lost. 

Once we started, our Trail Master kept us on the right track.

At first glance, the trail may look a bit mundane and even boring. But it isn't. Spring feels a bit late this year, but ...

...it is slowly emerging and with a few warmer days it will explode.

If one looks closely, the flowers are emerging on certain hillsides.

Bloodroot

Dutchman's Breeches

Fiddlesticks
--Ferns

Hepatica
[see the fuzzy leaves?]

Wild Photographer
on the loose:

 

We stopped a lot and just soaked in the forest sounds. The day was a bit overcast and at times the sun peeked through but we just walked, talked, and admired everything along the trail.

And photographers who hike together will often grab a candid of the other person. Aurora was no exception. She caught me playing with my Legos.

What was I doing? Well, I was setting up a Lego BigFoot inside a 'cave'. However, I wasn't sure that he should have a fire inside a hollow tree.

The place I really wanted Aurora to see was the old foundation.

This was a much better place to discover Bigfoot.

Photos by
Aurora!

And this is what I was shooting. I found Bigfoot!!!! He was taking a photo of me!

We spent a lot of time looking at this foundation. It may be the only remains of one of the farm buildings that were purchased to make way for the dam that didn't happen.

We took our time and strolled, stopping often to look at things. I never even glanced to see what time it was. I was enjoying everything so much. Female human company AND the great outdoors.

Pussy Toes

this plant had

me stumped until I recalled

finding them before!

Shining Firmoss

If I'd had my way, I would have not even gone back to my vehicle. I would have waved a magic wand and become a woodland elf.

That outing relaxed me so much, it lasted through the weekend. I'm so chill right now I could just melt right into the ground and enjoy the misty rainfall.

So you do well for your....

Hepatica

Black Tulip Fungi

Skunk Cabbage

Virginia Pinks

Wild Dutchman's Breeches

My neighbor who turned 32 this week wanted to go for a nice long hike with me...sans the children.  We've gone on short hikes because even though her three year old is a tough little hiker, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to enjoy this hard hike.

We covered about 3 miles under the canopy of more than one forest mini eco-system.

Near my place there were no flowers blossoming and just the mayflowers were beginning to poke there heads up like little torpedoes through the leaves.

She has studied plants and I have studied the forest floor.  She could give me the proper scientific names and I could ID the plant with the common name.

We headed through our land into the valley across the creek and up onto the ridge.  We took a fast walk over what we fondly call 'the velodrome' which is an open ridge.  It was farmed two years ago and no one did a thing with it last year.

As we dropped onto the trail that lead to the 'back' valley, flowers began to be noticeable in abundance.

Everywhere we looked there was beautiful hues of white, pink, purple, and blues.

The Hepatica were up ... and another plant I call Virginia Pinks which are actually Virginia Spring Beauties.

I was disappointed not to be able to find the Blood Root, but I'm pretty sure they'll come on strong as soon as the weather warms.

Well we wondered into the 'hidden' valley, crossed the creek and found skunk cabbage in all of its glory.

Then off we went while I pointed out landmarks that would soon disappear with the greening of the woods.

We went past the 'ice' cave and did some ravine exploring.

When we got back to the first valley, we crossed that creek and headed back through the old mule trail.  I did a little half step and trip but didn't fall.

I laughed and said something about one day I'd probably fall down and not be able to do this sort of hike any more.

My good young friend said, "You do so well for your..."

I could literally hear her mouth slam shut.

I laughed.  "For my age?"

"Um, no," she recovered, "most people my age couldn't keep up with you!"

Funny, I don't feel that 'aged'.  

We had a great time.