Sound Bites & Snap Shots

After dropping Mason off at Holiday World and switching drivers, Bill and I went hiking at Lincoln State Park.

We aimed to catch the trail that eluded us last time.  It almost beat us again!  One can pick up the Trail 4 near the gate entrance but the most direct access appeared to be via the road.  In order to avoid it, we snaked along Trail 2 but missed the turnoff.  Long story short, we learned Trail 4 was not accessible via Lincoln’s Boyhood Home and we walked about two miles farther than we were anticipating.  

We finally did catch locate the beginning of the 4th trail behind the park ranger’s house and we were off.  

We crossed the Southern R. R. tracks twice.  Bill and I love railroad tracks but are not stupid enough to spend much time standing on them.

This trail was moderate and, unlike what we discovered last time, most of it was more rugged, or rather, unpaved. The recent rain left the trails muddy in spots but not impassable.

I spent a lot of time looking at the ground because I was afraid of falling and breaking my neck. The benefit was that I saw plenty of mushrooms like these golden ruffled specimens. 

We found Lake Weber and the wetlands. The lake was brilliantly bright after tromping through the woods.  We circumnavigated it and then returned to the shade.

Once again we found wild blackberries. There were so many bushes of these wee berries.  If all blackberries grown on spikey bushes, I now understand why they are more a expensive fruit. It can’t be fun to get pricked by thorns.

There were a lot of rustling leaves on this path and we finally noticed the cause: frogs! Do you spy this little one? He was about the size of a half dollar and kindly stood still while I captured his portrait.

Lastly, this toadstool is my proof that polka dotted mushrooms do exist in more than video games. What a new concept!

Today’s total distance was 6.15 miles.  The high heat tuckered us out sooner than I would have liked but allowed us to head home in time for a quiet dinner together.