Bill has become quite proficient at navigating to O’Bannon State Park. This is no small feat since the GPS signal becomes unreliable out in the woods. We parked off the gravel road and walked to the trail entrances. In all the times we have hiked there (separately and together), we have always taken the Adventure Trail, just trekking farther each time.
Today we decided to hike Greenbriar.
We followed the well marked trail: white over green.
Though I prefer skirts for normal summer wear, Bill converted me to hiking pants. Now I don’t have to worry about brushing up against poison ivy and I’m protected from scratchy or pokey flora. I have gotten over how funny I look with my pants tucked into my socks because I’m getting fewer bug bites and pesky ticks.
At the start of all our hikes we look fresh as daisies.
We hiked 1.4 miles to the Chimney Shelter. Initially, the ground seemed damp. It wasn’t muddy but it was not dry either. It rained early in the week but because the woods were so densely shaded, things hadn’t dried up.
Weren’t the settlers clever with the name? It was smaller than other shelters we have found but nice all the same. The chimney was impressive.
We found ourselves at a beautiful vista with quite a drop. It was hard to capture the depth so after we stood at the edge looking down, Bill climbed to a rock ledge below.
Because it was our first time on this trail, Bill and I documented some of the plants and flowers.
This sign explained the trees in the area but unfortunately, the Plexiglas was so yellowed that it obscured the document underneath.
I used to notice ferns only in hanging pots on porches but not anymore!
We have learned our lesson that we have to make a decision how far to talk HALFWAY before we anticipate being TOTALLY tuckered out. We relied on my GPS watch and to hit a true halfway point, we had to cross over this giant fallen tangle of limbs and walk a little bit farther.
We spotted wee red and blackberries. Bill sampled the red ones first and declared they had quite a pucker effect. When he tasted one that was black, he found it sweet as could be. I picked a few for later and carefully tucked them in the pocket of my camelback.
On the return, we discovered that we had had a lot of elevation changes. Going down is harder than going up.
We hiked a total of 8.02 miles in four hours and then headed home.
You look like a pro!