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.

Earlier this week

The nice weather on Wednesday prompted Charlie and I to take another long hike on a familiar trails called Little Canada and Ice Cave Trail. It is a 'lollipop' loop. Meaning
one circles like a lollipop at the far

end of the trail and comes back 

on the same trail.

Charlie took his time. He slowed way down and did more investigating of the sides of the trails. We saw deer, heard some birds, but mostly the hike was quiet and subdued.

I'd taken the first leg on a maintenance/hike trail which cut off about a 1/2 mile of the beginning of the trail. When I got into the huge pine stands which were planted by the previous land owners about 60 years ago I saw this cool vine.

There are quite a few stands of white pines in this area as the farmers who owned these lands had planted them in the hopes of harvesting them for lumber and profit. Alas, the state moved in and they moved out. But that is another history lesson for this area.

Walking through some of these stands makes me wonder what those who are care for the Reserve plan to do as the pines age out and fall over.

I came to several spots where that has occurred over the past winter and just was curious.

We stopped at Charlie's stump where I've placed him often over the years when we've hiked this trail together. I don't know how much longer this stump will survive too.

The winds were pretty cold but when we dropped into valleys we stayed rather warm and when we walked on the ridges we were cooled.

We walked through the endless pines, the wind played music in the top branches. I stood and watching the boughs sway back and forth.

Below is one of the double ice caves or in geologist terms, rock shelters that are below the trail in a deep dry run. Actually a bit of water trickles through the rocks creating an ice curtain in front of 'cave' and thus earns its name as an Ice Cave.

Here is my neighbor Bill in the cave on the right in the winter of 2022. That was probably our last winter hike together.

It is a tough climb down into the shelters and tougher coming out!

Still, it is worth it!

Below are a couple of trail signs indicating that these trails are horse and bike trails. When I see the signs upside down like this I always think about a horse meeting a bike and freaking out. You can make up the rest of the story.

However, the rule is, pedestrians AND bikes stop and step aside for horses. Bikes are to pause for hikers also but rarely does that occur. I won't go into that now. 

This is the view that looks toward the river towards the end of the lollipop loop. I just like the combination of colors.

When I reach this spot in the trail, I nearly always pause to see if I can get a 'good' shot of these trees, roots, and rocks.

The weekend was planned with new areas to explore that most people don't even seem to know about! 

Jason the Geologist was coming to visit and had a plan....

Stay tuned....

Making the most

...out of 4 hours off.

Finally. The weather has broken into something I can live with!

And... I didn't have to run errands when Respite Tammy came on Tuesday!

Instead, I decided to run away from home (figuratively). I wanted to run. You know, really run. 

I decided to take Charlie along. Did you know this little dog can boogie?

When I started down the trail, Charlie was game. He wanted to set the pace. Off we went onto Little Canada trail. A runner passed us going the other way and grinned at us. She was in her cutest running clothes. I was in my cargo pants and T-shirt with my running vest on and a long sleeve shirt tied to my waist.

I certainly did not look anything like an athlete. But watch out for old ladies in disguise.

I let Charlie set the pace and it was impressive for such a short legged dog. Our first mile was around 9 minutes. We did a walk/jog/run thing.

Sometimes I'd tear ahead of him grinning like an idiot and jumping over rocks and roots. Then I'd stop and wait for my buddy. 

Our first 3 miles went pretty quickly. Then we started to just hike with intermittent bursts of joyful speed. 

It was like dancing in a way. We had the woods and trail to ourselves.

I only took my smartphone and supplies in running vest. Charlie wore his beeper collar to prevent him from running off into the woods after a chipmunk. 

I didn't take photos of all the damage done to the trees from that last horrible wind and rain storm. Places along the trail were littered with tops of trees, roots, branches, and areas where a crew had to work for a long time to recover the trail.

Thank you KVR crews, you are as always, awesome.

By mile 3 we slowed down quite a bit. My purpose in covering the first half or so quickly, was so that Charlie and I could look around on our way back through the loop. 

I have 4 hrs. 

There is a 25-30 minute travel time there and back. 

The trail when hiked slowly to look for things can take at least 3 hours. More, if there are a lot of cool things to look at. I had to time things out. Run or hike quickly --- and explore when I saw something.

Of course I brought mini me and mini Charlie.

Since I don't do selfies on the trail, we did mini shots.

Since most of this summer has been too hot for Charlie to get out and hike with me [and I have had very limited time to hike], he got tired. I tied my sleeves of my shirt in a knot and made a sling over my neck for Charlie to rest in. It is easier to carry him that way.

I may look into designing a sling for him out of some long scarves I have.

Charlie is often a good reminder not to be in a rush all of the time.

When we got home, he was tired.

We did it!

So he got some time to chill out in his favorite place.... our little hammock.

Good day...

and Happy International Dog Day on August 26th!

A cool trip to the Big Spring.

I decided around noon to take a hike down through the valley alongside the creek. Quite a few years ago the previous neighbor's kids dubbed it 'Awesome' Creek. The name stuck.

The creek has several springs and is for the most part a shallow and narrow creek that a person could mostly jump over. Since the land has laid untouched for the past 20 years, the brambles and other stick-ery things have moved in. 

When cattle roamed the land, it was quite nice to hike through. Now, it is more of a challenge. I can mostly follow along the creek and detour along deer paths, but after nearly 30 years of walking this valley, I know where to go to look for cool winter stuff.

Below are frosted grasses alongside the creek's edge. 

Where the water isn't flowing fast, it gets a skiff of ice over the surface. With enough cold days, portions will freeze over yet water will still move underneath the surface.

I wanted to get to the east end of the valley and check out the Big Spring where warm water flows from the hillside and many forest animals come for drinks. In the past winters the  mossy rocks in the Big Spring had been covered by layers of frost. I was hoping to see some cool tiny formations from the latest cold spell.

The surprise came when I sat down to study the grasses I took photos above. I saw a rock with snails on it! I hadn't been looking for them, but I certainly was pleased to see them. The bumps you see on the rock in the water are snails.

Here is a macro of one from 2020.

As I watched the rock, I noticed a Scud moving around. Here is a photo of a scud I took in 2020 also. This is when I used my Olympus TG6 which I can dip into water to take a photo.

They are called Amphipod Scuds and they are tiny shrimp like crustaceans that small fish feed on. Like these guys...sorry, they are hard to see. But they do live in the creek in this valley.

Here is the 10 second video of a scud moving around the snails! It may not be too good but maybe you can just notice the tiny movement. I felt like I just opened a huge Christmas gift when I saw the scud.
Geeked out... I told Charlie all about it and he ignored me.

The Big Spring was a little frosty and the moss was cool, but we didn't stay long. The cold must be extended for a longer period of time to cover the spring with layers of frosted moss.

But the pattens on the mossy rocks still are quite beautiful.

A few years ago...

So we decided to head home. I needed to make lunch for hubby and I was getting hungry.

Charlie stopped and froze while standing in the spring. 

I grabbed this shot and then realized what he was doing.

He was watching a Bald Eagle soar above the canopy.  Charlie is uncanny about spotting Eagles and Hawks, it is as if he knows that one of those large birds would view him as a snack.

If he hears an Eagle squeak or a Hawk call, he scurries to my side and asks to be picked up. He is very aware of everything that goes on around him both on land and in the air.

We made it home in time for lunch and got warmed up in front of the heater.

Busy busy!

Between the humidity and the two days of rain, I've gotten a lot done around the inside of the house. I'd picked up 2 dozen ears of corn from a farm stand and have it all frozen and put away now.

I did laundry except for the stuff I want to hang out to dry. That will have to wait for the rain to stop. Being forced to stay inside made me clean the house and scrub the floor. Yuck. It needed it.

In between rains, I grabbed the SD card from the Trail Cam and see that this guy has been using the forest trail.

I did see him the other morning when I was checking the meadow pasture. I can't help but be in awe of our wild creatures.

I finally had some time to look at the photos I took last Friday when I hiked part of the West Ridge Trail. 

Much of the first mile of the trail is in fields. But this time I decided to really try to be interested or more aware of 'what' was in the fields around me. Normally, I consider this trail ... at least this first mile quite boring.

Charlie didn't care, nothing is boring to him. He uses his sense of smell to keep up with things that are occurring in the present and the past. Imagine being able to have his sense of smell. 

I was excited to find this grass on both sides of the trail in great abundance.

I haven't ID'd it yet, but the first thing that came to my mind was Bluestem grass.

Another delight along the trail was blackcaps. The ripe ones were so danged sweet! I had to stop often to grab some to eat.

There were a few spots where this butterfly weed grew wild.

Such a brilliant orange.

Then we went into the woods and headed down the trail for a ways.

The undergrowth was SO thick it was hard to see into the woods for any distance until we got into an area with a heavy canopy of maples.

I found Downy Rattlesnake Plantain! And...I found it flowering! Wow...wow! Wow!

It is considered an Orchid. Did you know that? I did not!

Below is a photo of one of the new plants. They are so beautiful!

When I walked the trail, I finally got to an area where I knew I should find fungi. I found them too. 

The last ones are Golden Oyster Mushrooms and I've seen them now in this same area in June and August. They thrive all summer long when they have moisture.

This was also the trail that the fellow at the bicycle shop recommended for a bicycle ride experience. I may try it. But in order to make a loop to get back to my vehicle, it will take some road riding or 9 miles of hills, roots, and rocks to get back.

I'm going to first check out another nice bike trail that was made out of an abandoned t train right away that isn't too far away. 

The Pine River Recreational Trail in Richland County. Apparently there are a multitude of trails even closer to home in my own home town. Looks like it is time for me to put on my exploring cap once more!