Duck Egg walk... & Charlie

 Sunday was very windy and a bit chilly in the morning for those used to 80 degree weather. It was in the 60's when Charlie and I went to Duck Egg. Really, I don't know why it is named that, but it is a county park with a huge dam that was built ages ago to deter flooding from the Springville Branch of the Bad Axe River.

In the 1950's this Bad Axe branch wiped out most of a small town called Newton in a flood with a mere 4" rainfall that came down hard.

I chose to walk through lower Duck Egg because it is easy to get out of the wind while in the steep valley. I decided to go early in the day to check out the leaves and the light. That first shot is from the trail looking up at the west ridge above the valley taken with my cellphone. The colors look pretty flat but the light wasn't that great.

It didn't matter, the air was crisp and Charlie was having a ball. 

He does love cool morning walks.

Thank goodness he went up on the foot bridge where I could stand on the ground and get a ground level shot of him. He has 3 inch front legs. Seriously, how can he hike like he does?

The vet said to keep him active and let him be a dog and not a couch potato. Charlie seriously loves his cuddly blanket and snoozing on the couch.

He also loves snoozing on a chair we have for him. In the morning when hubby and I are having coffee together, Charlie jumps up here and curls up. 

The walk was quite nice. Not as nice as the spring walks I take there to find bluebells and so many other wild flowers, but still very quiet and pleasing. The winds whistled above us on the trail.

We eventually made it to the pond and I was surprised to see whitecaps on it. The wind was gusting so hard there were waves on the valley pond.

On our way back to the car, we encountered a young man carrying a bucket, a fishing pole, and to my utter surprise, what looked like an AR-15. 

"Holy Crap," I said to him, "are the fish so huge out there that you have to shoot the suckers???"

He laughed and said, "No. I'm going to catch some fish and hunt squirrels on my way back." He smiled and nodded at us and continued on. They make AR-15 style rifles that are .22 caliber. But I've squirrel hunted a lot and you don't need an automatic to shoot them if you are going to eat them.

I carried a single action bolt kid sized .22 when I squirrel hunted. Generally you only get one shot to get the job done.

I shrugged and kept my thoughts to myself.

I was out to enjoy the scenery and the fresh air and that is what we did.

Never on a Sunday

I finally got off the farm and out for a hike! Whoo Hoo! I got out to Duck Egg County Park. 

The footing wasn't very good. I would have done better with snowshoes which would have floated me over the rough tracks. Another rookie mistake.

I still made it from the lower parking area and out to the pond.

Photos from crossing one of the footbridges over
Springbrook Branch of the Bad Axe River.

My whole idea was to do a morning hike, stop in town at the Walmart and grab some groceries, grab some gas, and my last stop was to be Culver's for a nice salad and a Shrimp Dinner for Rich.

Walmart was a mess a total mess. Apparently they are getting ready to remodel also. Which made the weird Sunday crowd even worse. Everything was in the wrong place, departments were shoved together and some of the food shelves were empty.

It threw me for a total loop. I hurried through and got what I just barely needed and got out. I wanted to smack myself in the head for going on a Sunday during the middle of the day. 

I got into Culver's and got in line to order. There was that Sunday crowd again. Nothing against OLD folks, but wow. An old fella at the order counter was getting his undies in a bundle. It was super busy. I stood quietly waiting.

The old fella got loud and started cussing at the young man behind the counter who was desperately trying to figure out how to make up an order of 2 Pints of coleslaw and how to charge him. The old grumpy dude got louder and started to yell. 

I thought Dude! Coleslaw doesn't come in pints at a fast food place!

He started yelling for a Manager and indeed the Manager came out. At the same time one of our local fire fighters walked around to the counter and asked the elderly guy if he was okay. The old guy started getting loud again. It was a grand scene.

Long story short. The Manager calmly told the old grouch that he would not serve him today and he was sorry that he had trouble but he could not serve someone who was verbally abusing his help and causing a problem in the order line. It was done politely while us onlookers felt like grabbing the old sour puss and tossing him in a dirty snow bank.

But we didn't. The grouch was calmed down and shown the door and we all just looked at each other. The Manager addressed everyone in line with an apology and asked us to enjoy our meal and weekend.

Huh.

Just as I was ready to place my order, a lovely elderly lady with a cane brushed me aside and placed her order. I say lovely...because surely I don't think she even saw me. Besides, she was dressed up as if she'd just come from church. 

Finally, I got my order placed and walked out to the car. Forget the gas! I was headed home.

I thought to myself ... Now I remember WHY I -- don't go do things in town on the weekends.

And this song popped into my head....
I recall my mom and us singing this in the car.
Connie Francis---->

Never on a Sunday

And of course, now I can't get the song out of my head.

Return to Duck Egg

First, a morning walk with Charlie to enjoy the morning sunrise and colors.

Below the view at the mailbox on the ridge.

After our walk and breakfast for Rich, I proceeded to wash the siding on the north side of the house and discovered that a broom dipped in Murphy's Oil soap totally cleaned off the moldy green colors with almost no effort.

Next came the gutters once again and then a scrub of the back step which has lichen and green ick growing on it from being in the shade all year.

Then, I left Charlie to watch over Rich during his nap time.

Now this is funny! 
Rich takes a nap right after lunch. I may lay down to read for a bit and during that hour of quiet time Charlie is allowed on the bed and snuggles in and lays as still as can be.

When I left for Duck Egg, Charlie whined and cried when Rich laid down. He said he lifted Charlie up on the bed and gave him a blanket. Charlie slid under the blanket and never moved again until Rich got up from his nap.
OH, I think Charlie has HIS number! 

Our temperatures were supposed to hit 80 degrees and I figured it would be a bit too hot for Charlie to enjoy the hard hike I had planned.

Duck Egg Trail drops into a very steep valley.

The colors were incredible even with a hazy and overcast sky. I got to the valley and came around to the back of the dam.

I don't recall which year it was that where I am walking was under water. The water was to the top of the dam in front of me. It may not look like much from this vantage point, but it is.

The other side of the dam. 
I stopped at the picnic table under the oak tree not far from the horse tie rail. I ate a snack and an apple before moving on.

I headed across the foot bridge. Horses have a path alongside the bridge. The water runs rather fast and after a hard rain it does run hard enough to sweep a dog away.

I headed along the valley and over the foot bridges before taking on the trail that went back up to the ridge. It was hot in the valley and I was happy that I hadn't brought Charlie. 

I'd passed a couple heading the other way and we talked for a moment. They were headed to the old oak and picnic table for a picnic. The gent thought I was taking the steepest and hardest trail. 

I smiled and said that I had intended to do that.

The trail was steep and had a few switchbacks. I tromped on up it to the Lookout. I think all the leg work and workouts I have been doing helped tremendously. It didn't feel so hard.

See that hand? It is pointing to the Oak Tree at the bottom of the dam. The horse tie rail is next to the tree.

Isn't that quite the view?

In this photo, the green is the west end of the dam.

Here is a shot of the valley flooded so you can get an idea why the dam was put into place.

Impressive isn't it?

August 20, 2007. 

The rest of my hike was quiet but enjoyable. I walked along the ridge top prairie and back to the parking area.

MapMyHike said I'd hiked 2.47 miles and changed altitude of 429 feet. I don't know if that was 200 ft up and down? I think it was. All I know is that it was fun and I can't wait to do it again in cooler weather with Charlie.

Duck Egg. What an odd name, but cool place.