Half Knot
New member
Ok, finally taking a few moments to reflect on three terrific lunchtime rambles last week. No, there weren't mega climbs involved with views to the Mississippi. But after an extended Winter of cold weather and too much lingering snow, we're finally leaving the old Narnia (always winter and never Christmas) and basking in the coming warmth of Spring.
I took three lunchtime strolls of between 30 and 60 minutes last week during lunch breaks. The joys of working from home in a small rural town. Walk one was at Burnt Hill Park - a local town park with two loops of either 1.5 miles or 3 miles. I did the 3 mile loop in about 45 minutes. Some slight elevation changes of maybe 250 feet or so, but overall it's a pretty level walk. Trials were actually better maintained than I thought they would be given lack of small town resources. Nearly all of the ground was dry except for just a few patches of low ground that were a bit mucky. The best part of these trails is that they are not traveled much - I didn't see a single person on my walk. Peaceful, warm and quiet. A great meditative hike overall.
I then did two stretches within Gay City State Park. The first was a walk along the southern portion of the Red trail to the Blackledge River, then back on the Yellow trail to the park entrance. This was about a 2.5 mile loop that took a little over an hour to complete. The Red trail does have a bit more change in elevation thanks to descending into the Blackledge River valley - about 600 feet of change over the full walk. Trails were very well maintained and gave a good mix of flat, easy walking and more technical rock and root stretches. The river was flowing fairly strongly, with plenty of songbirds throughout the forest. Again, despite a little more technical challenge added this was a peaceful midday break from the rat race.
The last walk was the White-Red-Orange-Red/White-Blue loop along the northern side of the park. This was only about 1.5 miles and only took 30 minutes or so. Mostly flat and easy, but it added some technical spots along the Red and Red/White stretches with switchbacks and a few brief uphill scrambles. This walk had more evidence of wildlife waking up form a sleepy Winter. A tree about 1/2 chewed by beaver, along with a good sized dam they had built. A black water snake that damn near made me jump out of my shoes when it launched from the shore into the pond about 5 feet in front of me. It was may be 2" in diameter and about 4' long. I'm still not there with identifying wildlife yet, but it was much nicer catching a few Mallard Ducks on the other side of the pond after my snake encounter!
Gay City can be busy during the weekends with beachgoers, picnickers, scout troops doing letter boxing and more. But on a mid week noon walk, there's only a few trail runners or dog walkers around. And no fee for entrance helps a bit as well!
Overall, not a bad way to enjoy what beauty we are blessed with so close to home!
HK
I took three lunchtime strolls of between 30 and 60 minutes last week during lunch breaks. The joys of working from home in a small rural town. Walk one was at Burnt Hill Park - a local town park with two loops of either 1.5 miles or 3 miles. I did the 3 mile loop in about 45 minutes. Some slight elevation changes of maybe 250 feet or so, but overall it's a pretty level walk. Trials were actually better maintained than I thought they would be given lack of small town resources. Nearly all of the ground was dry except for just a few patches of low ground that were a bit mucky. The best part of these trails is that they are not traveled much - I didn't see a single person on my walk. Peaceful, warm and quiet. A great meditative hike overall.
I then did two stretches within Gay City State Park. The first was a walk along the southern portion of the Red trail to the Blackledge River, then back on the Yellow trail to the park entrance. This was about a 2.5 mile loop that took a little over an hour to complete. The Red trail does have a bit more change in elevation thanks to descending into the Blackledge River valley - about 600 feet of change over the full walk. Trails were very well maintained and gave a good mix of flat, easy walking and more technical rock and root stretches. The river was flowing fairly strongly, with plenty of songbirds throughout the forest. Again, despite a little more technical challenge added this was a peaceful midday break from the rat race.
The last walk was the White-Red-Orange-Red/White-Blue loop along the northern side of the park. This was only about 1.5 miles and only took 30 minutes or so. Mostly flat and easy, but it added some technical spots along the Red and Red/White stretches with switchbacks and a few brief uphill scrambles. This walk had more evidence of wildlife waking up form a sleepy Winter. A tree about 1/2 chewed by beaver, along with a good sized dam they had built. A black water snake that damn near made me jump out of my shoes when it launched from the shore into the pond about 5 feet in front of me. It was may be 2" in diameter and about 4' long. I'm still not there with identifying wildlife yet, but it was much nicer catching a few Mallard Ducks on the other side of the pond after my snake encounter!
Gay City can be busy during the weekends with beachgoers, picnickers, scout troops doing letter boxing and more. But on a mid week noon walk, there's only a few trail runners or dog walkers around. And no fee for entrance helps a bit as well!
Overall, not a bad way to enjoy what beauty we are blessed with so close to home!
HK
