After being skunked at The West Canada the previous night, you would've thought I would just mope around the next day. No need to dwell on the past - we will be back out next week so hopefully we'll hit the white fly hatch then. I do have another High Peaks hike coming up, and I really haven't worked out well enough. The stair climber and treadmill sitting in the basement have been so uninspiring to me lately. We have plenty of local parks with good hiking trails, fortunately.
Highland Forest doesn't open until 8:30am, a fact I discovered and sheepishly ignored at 7:00am as I pulled into the parking lot. No one around. Good. Just me and the wildlife - not that I could hear much over the sound of my gasping breaths as I pushed myself for a land speed record. The trail was pretty muddy from the rains over the weekend, and I think that slowed me down a bit. At least that was my excuse. I gave it my all, regardless, and finished the 8.7 mile main trail in 3 hours and 5 minutes. 21 minute miles on a sloppy trail. Not bad for a fat, old guy.
You ever noticed that the larger an animal is, the quieter they are in the woods? The noisiest creatures I came across were a few blue jays fluttering around. The quietest? All dozen or so of the deer I spooked throughout the morning. How can something that large bound silently through the woods as if watching TV with the mute button on? One of life's wonders, I guess.
Muddy
No comments:
Post a Comment