What do we do when we have a spare hour and we’re near a trail?
Hike, of course.
Even if we only log a couple miles, that’s two more miles toward the 100-mile NCT challenge that we’ve taken part in for the past 5 years.
This year we’ve been adding miles slower than usual, thanks to a plethora of those nasty little ticky-boos. I just haven’t broken down yet and spent money on the permethrin spray or permethrin-treated clothing that fellow hikers claim works wonders.
On Saturday, we decided to leave a bit early for our oldest daughter’s house and get in a few miles at Yankee Springs Recreation Area in southern Michigan before visiting her to help out with a few house chores. (Being new homeowners, they lack things like shovels, ladders, leaf blowers, etc. So we shared ours for the afternoon.)
The portion of the NCT that runs through Yankee Springs is well-maintained, well-traveled, and generally wide enough to avoid brushing up against places ticky-boos like to hang out. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were still active, which made stopping to photograph interesting things a struggle. As I took photos, Hubby had to fan away the mosquitoes with our trail map. Also, unfortunately, the “road” to the parking area was a roller coaster of dips and bumps that made me wonder if maybe we shouldn’t have parked elsewhere and walked in to where the trail intersected the road.
[Photos left to right, top to bottom: 1. Coltricia cinnamomea (Aren’t they pretty?) 2. Indigo milk cap (Lactarius indigo) 3. Best guess is Clitocybula abundans 4. Indian pipes (Monotropa uniflora), a perennial wildflower that we’ve been finding in abundance this month. 5. Crown-tipped Coral, Artomyces pyxidatus 6. A “hobo” hut in the woods. FYI, I use a mushroom identifier app, various online sites, and Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest to identify mushrooms. I am not always correct.]
We had a moment of heart-pounding excitement when we heard the very distinct cracking sounds of a tree starting to fall nearby. After felling numerous trees on our property, we know that sound when we hear it. We stopped, looked around, and determined we were in no danger. A few steps later, we heard more cracking. Strangely, we never saw a tree fall.
After walking a mile down the trail, we came to a section we had previously completed, so we turned around, headed to the car, and continued to our daughter’s house.
We’d hoped to conquer a few more miles on Sunday after moving our son to college, but time and rain put the kibosh on those plans. We’re going to have to step up our hiking mileage over the next few weeks to complete our remaining 40ish miles for the challenge before cold weather and snow arrives.
As for books, I recently finished listening to The Secret History of Food by Matt Siegel, which I found both entertaining and educational. If you’ve never studied the history of the kooky Dr. Kellogg who liked to give his patients yogurt enemas, you’ll find a treasure trove of crazy facts about this man in this book…along with many other interesting food facts. (The chapter on pie was also enlightening.) For a non-fiction book, I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud occasionally.
Also, speaking of food, check out this podcast by Mind Pump https://mindpumppodcast.com/1877-obesity-its-not-your-genetics/ that I just listened to today. Lots of fascinating info here.
100 Books in 1 Year 