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Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Stiff - Day 322

  When I got up this morning, the temperature was 22 degrees. It was only 24° when I started hiking.

Any water that was at all shallow was stiff.
frozen creek

The grass was stiff and crunchy, and the sun wasn't warm enough yet to do anything about it.
frozen pond

Leaves with crisp edges will be brown and burned tomorrow.
frost on leaves

I saw my first "ice agates" of the season.
ice frozen in rings

Another plus of the morning was that all the mud was equally stiff. I didn't even get a damp foot, which is amazing given that there is a lot of mud in this section.

The sun kept working on stoking the furnace.
sun on grass

Now the scene is looking more cheery.
sunny trail

A lot of this section is concurrent with snowmobile trails. I've heard that a lot of people don't like this part because there's "nothing to see." Well, long-distance trails connect places, and not every single mile is going to be spectacular. You just have to look for the little blessings.

Me? I had a good day. I didn't get wet or even damp feet at all. I didn't get cold. My hands were not cold. I found good places to sit for my snack and my lunch (the latter in a snowmobile trail shelter- a log Adirondack cabin with a bench), all the creeks had bridges, the trail was easy enough that I could walk quite fast, and I never once lost the trail. This meant that I finished in time to go to the grocery store and take care of some shopping.

Miles today: 13.7. Total miles so far: 3713.4 (Over 3700!)

See Duluth

8 comments:

Ellie said...

I love the ice agates. As long as it wasn't too slippery, the ice and frozen vegetation are beautiful, especially with the blue sky. Glad you got some warm gloves. I hope you won't experience all the deep snow that has covered much of the UP the past two days.

Ann said...

The ice agate is pretty cool

Lin said...

While the grass is stiff and crunchy, do you wake up stiff and crunchy too? (Like me?) Do you stretch and warm up before you get on the trail? I have to do that now and wondered if you do too?

We used to always have hamsters and they always went through this huge stretching routine prior to running on their wheel. It always made me crack up.

Fruitport said...

a day for appreciation and gratitude in the little things.

Sharkbytes said...

Ellie- I'm sure hoping there will be a window between this first snow and the real snow.

Ann- I love ice agates!

Lin- I am a little stiff, but not bad

Fruitport- always!

The Oceanside Animals said...

Java Bean: "Brrr."
Charlee: "Brrr."
Chaplin: "Brrr."
Lulu: "You guys all need thicker fur."

Sharkbytes said...

Java, C&C- a dog named Diggins hiked with his girl (Emily Ford) all the way across Wisconsin in the winter.

Jeff said...

Those photos look cold!