Kisatchie National Forest- Caney Lakes

 A perfect location for a little hike today.

In the morning, we got Loretta's Christmas stuff put away in her storage unit, and we drove to see some places around town.

In the afternoon we drove to a nearby trail in Kisatchie National Forest. It has several units sprinkled around the state, but this one was close. I hiked the Lost Man Trail and part of the Sugarcane Trail. Loretta did a little less.

There are Upper and Lower Caney Lake. The trail begins by walking between the two and crossing the overflow stream. Even though this is a strictly functional waterway, the bridge makes it more attractive.

Upper Caney Lake was in the sun, and lovely.

This is the "deep" south, so it's great to see some different trees. This is baldcypress, Taxodium distichum. Their natural range extends as far north as southern Illinois, but there are occasional planted ones even in Michigan that have survived. It's the tree in the background with the flared base. The cool thing about this tree is that it will grow "knees" when it's growing in water or saturated soil. This allows air to reach the roots. The knees are the cone-like structures poking through the ground.

There was a lot of conglomerate rock. Some of it was in a dark red matrix, which has to be iron rich. I didn't find a lot of information about conglomerate rock in Louisiana. But there was enough of it that if I had time to check some local sources, I'm sure there are people who could tell me more.

American Holly, Ilex opaca, does grow in the north, but it's happier in the south. It looks just like holly is "supposed" to look.

Now, here's a tree you probably won't see in the north. This is longleaf pine, an iconic tree of the south.

The bark is pretty distinctive, and the needles are usually in threes.

I finished almost at sunset. This was across Lower Caney Lake. The trail was a lot of fun. There was just enough topography to make it interesting. I'm pretty sure the Lost Man Trail was designed for bicycles with lots of dips and twists. These are annoying on a long-distance trail where you are trying to get from point A to B. But for a day hike, they give you a lot of trail for the available space.

I'm not complaining at all about the other hikes I've been able to take on this trip. Any off-road walk is a win. But this one- on natural surface with topography and deeper woods- was fantastic! Loretta walked two miles. She'd previously seen most of what she did today.

Caney Lakes in Kisatchie National Forest. Lost Man Trail and part of the Sugarcane Trail. 3.5 miles.

See Fun, and Games

Letchworth 2 - Nice Trail

  Today, we hiked 10.6 hilly miles, and our legs are weary, but not feeling bad. Hooray! The trail was beautiful.

There were some really big trees. This is a white pine. It's the biggest one we saw, although we were supposedly within a mile of the largest tree in the park, a sycamore. The directions to it were sketchy, though.

Here are the upper branches of our pine.

Old turkeytail fungus is often as pretty as fresh.

The most significant feature of the day was the many gullies that had to be crossed (the source of the hills which were technically valleys). Water was not running in most of them. If it had been there would have been many, many lovely small and medium waterfalls. But it also would have been a lot more slippery. We'll settle for just seeing pretty rocks.

Just another gully that we walked beside and across.

We had dinner with Irene. Wonderful day.

Letchworth Branch of the Finger Lakes Trail, Livingstone County, NY, Access H to E (approximately Dygert Rd to River Rd a half mile north of Frost Rd).

See Yellow Blazes

Spirit of the Woods Hike - December

 
Today was the monthly hike for the Spirit of the Woods trail club. I was actually able to go on this one. In fact, I was the leader. Not that that's such a big deal. Anyway, 10 people showed up, but we didn't manage a group picture.

Love how the trail just calls to me here.



The youngest and oldest hikers slowed down enough for me to snap a picture.



I love hemlocks. They are among my favorite trees. This clump was looking nice.


And the occasional wise old white pine might have interesting stories to tell.


A stick covered in orange lichen and snow provides a bright spot in the woods.



Finally, you've probably heard of Burl Ives. However, I'd like to introduce you to Burl Eagle. I think he's related to the family in the link below.



And... I have something really neat to show you tomorrow. I'll give it a post of its own.

Miles hiked today: 8.5 in under 3 hours, and I was the last one in (I like to stop and take pictures, eh?)

Hike 100 Challenge is at 95.5 miles. One more little hike to do this month for me.

There is no other news, except that I ate too much.

North Country Trail, Freesoil Trailhead south to 5 Mile Rd and back, 8.5 miles

	See A Tree Full of Eagles
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The Tolerable Snowman

 
Today was characterized by... snow. I may track considerable snow inside, but I also remove much more from the driveway. To be honest, I'm hardly snow covered compared to the days it's windy. We have about a foot on the ground.

I love how each type of tree is enhanced by the dry white flakes. They've stayed on the trees all day. White Pine.



Blue Spruce.

Red Pine.



And a pear tree with no partridge.



And, it's back to work for the night in a couple of hours.

In other news: Worked till about 1:30. Cleared the driveway. Finished the beta-read of Murder on the Brewster Flats (a really fun book). Did a few errands. Wrote a little bit on Secret Cellar (may be past the part that is giving me trouble). Started reading a new book- not very interesting yet, and I'm losing my tolerance to stick with books that don't grab me. I have piles of books that probably will be interesting.

	See Fruity? for the pear tree in a different white phase
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