Frogger

Playing a little catch up this week with the blogging, but the hiking has continued! The year I graduated from high school the original Frogger video game came out. The object of this game was to get frogs to their homes one by one while avoiding a road with hazards. The hike we took on May 6 was like Reverse Frogger. We were trying to cross the road and avoid all of the frogs that were crossing our paths!!!!  Cheryl, Lorrie and I ventured out to Gilmore Ponds Metropark in Butler County. We hiked 2.6 miles in about one hour and twenty minutes. The temperature was a beautiful  82 degrees.

The very beginning of the hike was my most favorite part of this park, unfortunately for Cheryl it was her least favorite. The trail starts off on the pond, literally. We were walking on water. I'm not sure how long this floating platform was, twenty or thirty yards? but it was amazing. Check out the picture. You can see the duckweed and the water right there by our feet. There were frogs sunning themselves on the platform and jumping off as Cheryl shrieked with every step! The geese families that were swimming in a row, quickly glided across the water to get away from all of the noise. Poor old gal, she really does have a great fear of amphibians. It's a good thing she didn't know about them before setting out for the day, I know she would have stood us up!

After we crossed the water, we started off on the muddy trail. This part of the trail is a long straight stretch. One side of the trail is a marshy pond, the other side of the hike is a creek that was once to be part of the Miami Erie Canal, a historic abandoned canal system. The trail was extremely muddy and filled with puddles. It was a challenge to get through it.  There were some pretty spring flowers and some nice views of the pond as we continued onward.

Several times, we wondered how we were going to get across the water and deep mud and then the path veered away from the pond and became more wooded. This is called the Gilmore Wetlands Loop.  This hiking felt more familiar and we were now cruising along the trail.  We took the Highlands Trace Trail that departs from the Gilmore Wetlands Trail and the path wound it's way through sparse trees and then a meadow before we headed back to the water area. We now entered the most difficult part of the trail to pass. We actually had no choice but to go off of the path to avoid our boots being completely submerged under water. It was a pretty easy hike as far as hills, there isn't much variance in the elevation. Tammy York classifies Gilmore Ponds as a moderate hike and if it wasn't for the mud, I would agree. I think it was more moderate to difficult for us.

Overall, it was a fun hike. I really enjoyed walking on the floating dock. Cheryl didn't overcome her fear of amphibians, but she survived her elevated heart rate. Lorrie was outfitted in white gym shoes and they suffered through the hike better than expected, but her feet were soaking wet by the end. I think if I lived closer to this park, I might venture to it again, but I'm not sure it was one of my favorites and that I would drive the distance for a repeat visit.

A shout-out to cousin Tammy for my new hiking shirt. Check out the picture! It is from myhappyshirts.com. Great comfort and quality.  For every shirt purchased, a shirt is donated to an orphan.  It was a fun surprise to get in the mail and I thank Tammy for thinking of me! (I have worn it on three hikes now!)

Twenty-three hikes down and thirty-seven to go!  Summer is right around the corner with new challenges and things to see!