We saw the first signs of spring this week on our hike to Ault Park. We were originally going to hike at Chilo Lock 34 Park, however, there was a terrible storm yesterday with possible tornado damage in Moscow, which is along the way to that site, so we decided it was probably best to choose another hiking location. I was joined this week by Phyllis and Lorrie. We hiked for 1 hour and 50 minutes and traveled about 3.63 miles. It was another beautiful sunny winter day and the temperature was 41 degrees.
When we exited the car, it was super windy, but we were fortunate that once we got into the woods the wind was not a factor at all. As we started hiking toward Valley Trail, Lorrie and I noticed right away that the ground was not as muddy as the hike from last week. We were both grateful for this. When we got to Valley Trail there were signs saying that it was "Under Construction" and that the trail was closed. It looked passable so we continued anyway. Whatever construction they are doing, appears to be almost finished. It was difficult to tell what kind of construction was taking place, but there was a lot of temporary plastic orange fencing. The trail was all gravel and we hiked on it until we reached some railroad tracks.
From here we headed up our first good hill onto the Ridge Trail. The ground was still pretty dry at this point and the scenery was beautiful. This was one of the highest elevated points of the trail, so there were a lot of nice woodland views. As we looped around and headed back down toward the Valley Trail, we hit our first encounter with a lot of mud. Thankfully, no one bit the dust and Phyllis did not become the latest member of the F.Y.B.C. (Fall on Your Butt Club, for anyone who missed last week's post.) There was a spot where we had a choice of two paths, but they were both blocked with piles of tree limbs. Someone took a lot of time stacking those limbs and why I have no idea. We stepped around them and carried on. It was at this point that we saw one of the first signs of spring and where the most interesting conversation of the hike took place. It was about tulip bulbs and it went something like this:
Lorrie: "Someone was out here planting a lot of tulip bulbs!"
Mary: "You think someone planted all of those?"
Lorrie: "Well, yeah, how else would they get out here?"
Mary: "Tulips naturally occur in nature-they aren't manmade, so I would think that they could be wild tulips."
A few moments of silence.
Phyllis: "Maybe the squirrels had something to do with it."
Mary: "Yeah, you know like how birds eat seeds and then spread them around."
Lorrie: "I don't believe that a squirrel is eating a tulip bulb and then poops it out! I'm looking it up on the internet!"
Oh sigh...such fun on these hikes! We crossed the Valley Trail again and then started hiking Tree Trail. This was a pretty area. The tree roots had a lot of moss on them and it was a nice contrast on the winter earth. There were lots of cool trees. I am going to start a new segment called "How does that happen?" We saw a huge tree that looked almost like the bark had been peeled off, but it was more than just the first layer of bark. Weird. We saw another tree that had a skinny trunk, but had a huge knot that was about three times the size of the trunk. How does that happen???? We obviously need a scientist type joining us on these hikes!
I got us turned around toward the end of the hike and we took Cliff Trail, which was the most muddy treacherous part of the hike. We weren't planning on taking this trail, but we have proven to be directionally challenged, even when there are trail posts. This path was almost all uphill and was so muddy we were sliding all over the place! You had to watch every foot placement to keep from falling. I was looking down and WHAM! whacked my head on a huge tree limb. I couldn't see it because I was looking down and the bill of my hat covered it. I had my adorable pink and cow print reading glasses on my head - they were busted beyond repair. So sad. Doesn't everyone wear fancy reading glasses when hiking? (If they want to read the map, they do!)
Overall, this was a fantastic hike. We got some great exercise, we laughed, and took in the fresh winter air. TWELVE HIKES DOWN AND FORTY-EIGHT TO GO!!!!
Next week I hope to head to Hayes Arboretum in Richmond, Indiana for a 3 mile hike. Looking for fellow hikers!
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