Just go for it...

Sometimes I go for the hard and swift hikes.

Thursday I took Hannah and left Charlie at home. I wanted to do a 'hard and swift' hike. I had the route all planned out.

I was using my running vest instead of a backpack.

They sort of look like this:

It is so light! It is nice to carry water and a few useful items in the pocket in back.

My average with Hannah was pretty fast. The fastest pace I set was 12 minutes for a mile. Hannah and I had a blast.

Whoo hoo!

With all of that aside, we saw some amazing sights. Imagine a valley floor covered in Dutchman's Breeches!

We found patches of Blood Root deep in the forest.

Alongside the trail we found hundreds of Trout Lilies.

We took quite a few short breaks. Hannah is a pup so I want to be careful with her.

I have this old coffee cup snapped to my belt loop so Hannah can drink out of it and eat kibbles so she can replenish her energy while I snack on a Protein Bar.

It works really quite well.

The West Ridge Trail 
was lined with 
Spring Beauties.

The Old Man Ice Cave looked rather sleepy when we went past.

These were morning views from Bridge 15. I really have to keep an eye on Hannah, she is a daredevil and I wouldn't put it past her to jump off the bridge. I don't think she would but I've seen her do some crazy stuff and ... she likes water.

Starting our journey before 8 o'clock was really quite nice. We had the place to ourselves. Now that we have earlier sunrises and longer days, I'll be adjusting our hike times to very early or very late.

👇

The Kickapoo River has been quite full for this month. 

The backwaters have filled in and come right up to the paved trail. This area is teaming with life and will soon be producing hoards of 'skeeters and other bitey flying insects. Although, I am happy to see these areas full of water again.

Here is a link to a video. Every time we pass this spot on Little Canada Trail, she has the super zoomies. The Video is 19 seconds long and just of Hannah running up to the tree roots and then zooming around. Her pure Terrier/puppy joy creates warmth in my heart.

I'm putting it here so when I am blue, I can go back and watch it over and over again.

Our total distance for this hike [we did rest and I was very careful with Hannah]...was 8.47 miles. We got home before noon and spent the rest of the day working on flower beds.

A funny note about dogs. This was Hannah's second time on this trail. When we got a junction on Old 131 trail, she chose left which headed back to the parking area a mile away. 

I imagine she either 'knew' which way was back or she was able to smell our backtrack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below--->

This is to remind me what I used on this speed hike.

Total time for 5.65 miles: 1 hour:53 minutes. Rated as Moderately Difficult.

Trails taken: Old 131, Little Canada, Ice Cave Trail, start at Parking area on County P
Gear: Running Vest with water, First Aid kit, Food

Foot Gear: Merrill Trail Running Shoes

Temperature: 73 F, Humid, North breeze

Additional easy/slow hike to the pond near the Mule Trail and back to County P Parking
Distance: 2.70 miles
Trail: Old 131, flat, paved
Time: 1 hour:02 minutes.

Rest and recovery walk/hike.

At the end of May, I am doing a Birthday Hike to celebrate my 7th decade here on Earth. The goal is to hike at least 15 miles to mark it. 

Wet and wild

This has been our world for the past week. Rain. Repeat.

Rain, dangerous winds, tornadoes, hail, more rain.

Repeat.

Fog.
Fog.

Rivers and creeks over their banks.

Below. Our creek and my boots.

The rain has been coming in the late afternoon and evening. 

The dogs and I [of course!] have been out to explore our creek. 

After years of drought, we now have water flowing again.

In the shot below, I'm standing in sucking silt and sand. Like a kid, I enjoy playing in the mud and muck.

After all. I'm still just a kid at heart. I enjoy a good rainfall and I enjoy puddles.

I felt it was a great time for my Mini-me and Mini-dogs to enjoy an adventure too.

Believe it or not, I finally found a Lego boat that actually floats!

The mini black dog with the red hat is Charlie. The other mini black dog will be Hannah. The current here was enough to move the boat and twirl it around while I squatted above the mud and took photos.

That may sound crazy to you, but play is how I relieve stress.  Hiking, Gardening, and play are the things that keep my mind safe and sound. 

Another nice thing for this week is that it is TOO wet and rainy for the scrap dudes to show up or to have any more landscape work done here.

I haven't been diligent about recording the rainfall amounts. Let's just call it ... A LOT.

My yard squishes in many areas right now and low lying areas have standing water. We've had so much rain that I don't have to fill any of my water tanks for the mules. The grass is growing like crazy and I can't even think about mowing unless I have 'water wings' on the mower.

So, we go hiking, do errands, and seize the day. 

False Morel
Gyromitra caroliniana

Multiflora rose bush leaves
sharp pointy stems!

Flat backed millipede
[recommended to leave it alone]

Cool places to wade in and get muddy. 
This is our valley which is very steep.
You can see the trees above in the 

reflections.

Frustrated Mini me who is not quite tall enough 

to get a nice shot of Spring Beauties.

Some of my favorite spring
flowers.

Spring Beauties.

Last night's storm front coming in. It is a time lapse 38 seconds long. Just sort of fun to watch the clouds and how the mules enjoyed rolling in the mud to help their coats shed.
This is the view from my porch facing south west.

The dogs were rather tired last night... and it is sort of nice to see them asleep together [which was by accident].

Wednesday deserves another Uffda. At least no tornadoes or dangerous hail happened, but we got....

this.................

Uffda may be used in Norwegian as a response when hearing something lamentable (but not too serious), and can be translated as "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that".

Chilly Tuesday

Apparently chairs are much better than the nice doggy bed on the floor.

Or ...

the dogs have taken over and I am their servant. 

Hannah still has to be lifted onto the chair, she hasn't gotten the jump down quite yet.

They keep me safe and busy.

Charlie is the watchdog and Hannah runs to hide if she hears a loud or unfamiliar noise.

After the scrapper dudes left, we headed out for some exploring. [More about them another time.]

We explored a new area.

 

A sunny bluff that ran north and south.

On the eastern side of the bluff spring flowers were pushing up. 

Spring Beauties
[they should carpet the forests in
about two weeks]

Spring Beauties and
the sprouts of Dutchman's Breeches

Blood Root a very unique
spring flower.

On the west side, there were icicles dripping off from cold bluff. This side of the bluff rarely gets much sunshine as it faces a steep and heavily forested valley.

The cracks in the bluff had frigid air coming out of them.

If it is really hot while hiking this summer, I know where I can go to cool off. All I have to do is stand at this crack in the bluff and feel the cold air venting out.

Natural air conditioning!

Hannah loved the cold so much she had super zoomies.

The bluff has such unique shapes, forms, and colors.

Looking up.

Here is the view of the Kickapoo River retreating from its flood stage. I was standing on a bridge about 10 feet above the river. The bridge still had mud and debris on it.

The pussy willows along the trail that runs alongside the river were bright with their catkins.

On the hike back I saw a pair of swans and a pair of Sandhill Cranes in the wetlands. 

Both dogs slept on the way home.

It was a cold but good day.

More cool spring flowers and trees...

Just fun things I found while out checking the meadow east of us.

Below is a little plant/flower called Pussytoes. [scientific name: Antennaria plantaginifolia]

Here is a few glimpses of what I also found while walking to the mailbox and back.

Wild Plum Blossoms 5/1.

Wild Plum Blossoms 5/5.

Spring Beauties

Macro of above flower....

Grey Dogwood

May is a crazy month for me. Fall in reverse! So many things are happening in nature that is can boggle the mind.

Trees produce new leaves and catkins. Other trees flower. On the forest floor ephemeral flowers appear and are gone quickly while other flowers and plants emerge.

I feel that if I miss a morning walk, that I miss many things.

I need to get back out to see how one of my favorite trees is doing.

The Hawthorne tree.
Its needles are sharp and the tree has an interesting shape, but the flowers they produce are pretty amazing.

These are just starting. In the woods nearby, I can only find one solitary Hawthorne tree as the other three have died.

Perhaps I'll go out this morning and see if the blossoms have opened yet.