Entries to Win Afghan

Sign up to receive the Books Leaving Footprints Newsletter. Comes out occasionally. No spam. No list swapping. Just email me! jhyshark@gmail.com Previous gifts include a short story, a poem, and coupons. Add your name, and don't miss out!

Monday, January 31, 2022

Pike State Forest 2 - Day 62

  Can you believe I've been on the trail for two full months? Seems too fantastic to be true, and yet, here we are.

Today, we went over two ridges: Green Ridge and Greenbrier Ridge. The snow is still impeding progress, but not as much. It's almost gone on south slopes, but on the north there are still several inches. Almost all our miles today were off road. At the end of the day the trail was difficult with lots of fallen trees, and some logging. But, as you can see, we had sunshine again. The temperature got to about 37 degrees in the afternoon. sunshine on snowy trail

In some places we were on bridle trails. This horse camp made a nice place for a break with a place to sit. picnic table in the woods

The trail over Greenbrier Ridge is named for Jim Sprague. Jim was one of the first people associated with the Buckeye Trail to fully support the North Country Trail following the same route for many miles. I wish I had a picture of him to share, but I don't have one with me. I believe he's still alive. Jim Sprague Trail

The view from Greenbrier Ridge was awesome. We ate lunch at another horse camp, taking it all in. The camera just can't capture it. For about 180 degrees we were surrounded by hills of various shades of blue. view from Greenbrier Ridge

Best find of the afternoon? I saw the seed pods of an orchid. I'm not quite good enough to just look at the seeds and identify most of them yet. Downy Rattlesnake Plantain seeds

But I dug under the snow, and the leaves are persistent. I thought at first it might be a new species for me. I thought there were two kinds of these orchid with the white veins. But, it's only my old friend, Goodyera pubescens, Downy Rattlesnake Plantain. Still, a great find in the winter. Botany forever! Downy Rattlesnake Plantain

Our knees were tired at the end of the day, but we did great given the conditions.

Miles today: 10.3. Total miles so far: 865.3.

See Pike State Forest

2 comments:

Beyond my garden said...

Snow walking is sooo tiring. I got 2 new kneeslate this summer and I'm exhausted after just a mile. You will have quads of steele

Ann said...

Wow, temps all the way up to 37. That's almost a heat wave :)