My goal for the year has been a paltry 50 miles a month. I thought I would knock that out easily. So far, not the case, though April was the first month I utterly failed.
I got half my miles on the Cumberland Island trip between walking and biking on the island and then walking around at the springs and Disney Springs, it was easily 25 miles total.
I only walked about 8 miles before the island, so that left me with 17 miles to cover the last week of the month.
Matt and I knocked out 5 whole entire miles at the track (not all in one go though). Gina and I did 8 on the Honeycomb trail. So...I ended the month 5 miles shy of my goal
Met Amanda and walked 5+ miles at Duck River the weekend before the trip. We got further out than I realized and ended up having to send Matt and Ben running back to the car to get to a community concert we had planned to see. We totally missed it but were reunited at the Mexican place afterward, so it wasn't a tragedy.
Bluets
Not much growth for April!
It was Dogwood Winter that day and QUITE chilly!
That's a cold snap that happens annually around the time the dogwoods reach full bloom.
I spotted blackberry starting to bloom and remembered there's Blackberry Winter still left.
I was suddenly very glad to be going to the beach.
Some cold-stunned dwarf irises.
It had dropped below freezing the night before.
the start of a possible nest?
I really like a trail that heads off into the distance.
LOOK AT THE POLLEN
The next week, the oak trees started in. Matt and I clogged up PDQ and I had to double my allergy meds. Oak hits us both like a mule kick. But not the kids. To add to that, he and I both were in glasses by middle school. The kids all have perfect vision. But they all three needed braces, so there's that.
Clover
waxy buttercup
Plantain
I don't know
lyre-leaved sage
daisy fleabane
butterweed
squaw root
Phlox
The stretch under the power lines is not pretty.
It seems to be being used to dump stuff like mulch and dirt. The piles skirt the trail and even though this is the 6th time I have walked here, I still had a few spots where I was unsure if we might have passed the Honeycomb Trail turnoff.
mullein
The trail squeezes behind that pile of mulch (and...cement chunks) right at the base of the hill.
This is the next tricky spot, after passing above the campground and going back down the other side, the trail crosses a wide, very flat and usually very muddy spot. Another trail meets up from the left, the HT goes to the right. Within a minute or so, there's this junction. Off to the left is blazed, straight is not.
The trail to the left circles Thompson Reservoir and becomes the trail that meets up at the muddy spot.
Taking this adds a mile, though not a hard one. Or you could just walk it, retrace the path to the parking area and have a pretty easy 2-mile walk done.
Going straight keeps you on the HT.
more butterweed
Little guy!
I really like this spot
The hill at Fern Gully. It's all green now!
And ferns are everywhere!
The big tree by the water just before the long climb
I'm going with a type of skullcap, though I am not sure and a totally open to any input.
Tickseed
Coreopsis
Poison oak
Yellow eyed grass
Lunch tree!
This is at the top of a hill in both directions and has nice, downed logs nearby and rocks just past it.
Rare panting shot, she's not a 'smiler'
The trail had trees down in 3-4 places and lots of branches and had started to get overgrown here and there.
Fire pink
This was a tree across the trail that was also COVERED in poison ivy!
After the hike, we went to Ghost Falls and Honeycomb Natural Bridge.
Nia was done for!
She had a limp the next day, I felt awful for wearing her out, but she rallied and was fine again by the afternoon. Poor pupper!
She had a limp the next day, I felt awful for wearing her out, but she rallied and was fine again by the afternoon. Poor pupper!
