Hiking at Limekiln

We hiked the "Old Damn" trail at Limekiln State Park.

 

I think the trail is a 1.5 mile loop. Yes, we remembered to sign out.

 

The creek was very dry. That's what happens when we have a summer with no rain.

 

The three Piel kids.

Can you spot the nest high in the tree?

Saw two fawns at the trail head.

I love hiking in the woods. 

Tenting at Limekiln State Park

This past weekend I went tenting with the Piel family.

We had site 117.  We were not on the water but very secluded from other sites.

Camping is a lot of work. Most of the work happens at home, packing and figuring out everything you need to bring and then all the clean-up and drying out after the trip is over.

We spent hours and hours sitting and staring at the fire pit.

Toast for breakfast along with my tea water on the boil.

No dishwasher while camping.

Our group as we set out for a hike.

Thankfully, no rain for me this weekend!!!

Wordless Wednesday

First Day Spring

Yesterday, the last day of winter, at our house it was 75 degrees at 4:00pm.  Now for my relatives that live in Georgia, South Carolina or Texas that is no big deal. But at my house!!

We broke the previous record from 1983 of 65 degrees.

Bring on spring. 

Redwood Forest ??

During our hike at Lampson Falls we came across the root system of a fallen tree. I'd never seen anything like this before. It's the size I imagine of a tree in a Redwood forest.

 The sections where the soil washed away made it all the more interesting.

 Both photos were taken by Bonnie. The top photo with her camera and the bottom photo with mine. 

Lampson Falls

This is the kind of January hike I'm used to. It was a 50 mile round trip drive but so worth it.

This hike was an "official" hike. We had to sign in, a first for Bonnie & I.

We followed the trail by markers on the trees.

I finally got the hang of the self-timer on my new camera. Notice the camera on Bonnie. She got a camera for Christmas. So nice to get her interested in taking pictures. I think she'll have a SLR before long.

This bridge looks much different than the bridge last Sunday in SC.

The photo with the sun shinning on the ice on the side of the falls does not do justice to how pretty it looked.

I hiked up a hill to this pine forest and the pine smell was wonderful.

We want to go back in the spring.

USC Arboretum

When Mick & I were in Columbia, SC attending a memorial service, for a co-worker of Mick's, we stayed with Jim & Debbie. On Sunday we went hiking at a University of South Carolina Arboretum. Don't confuse USC with the "real" USC.

The weather was like a spring day at home.

The trail was marked with rocks taken from the property.

The sky was a beautiful blue.

I thought this was a very interesting tree stump.

 

This is the bridge from the photo in last weeks Wordless Wednesday.

Was great to see flowers in the middle of winter. Pansies were also blooming.

A terrible self-portrait.

It was wonderful Sunday hike especially when it was January and didn't involve boots and snow pants.

Wordless Wednesday

Butternut Squash

Mick bought at a grocery store butternut squash, grown at a local farm, for 29 cents a pound.

 I wish I would have had him buy more than five.

I've already cooked the squash and sealed in bags for the freezer.

Have you figured out that our Thanksgiving menu includes Butternut Squash?

Hike

While in Tucson I went on a hike. Early in the morning to avoid the heat. The avoidance somewhat worked.

Told Bonnie, "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Name that movie.

I'd never hiked in the desert. The scenery was very beautiful and interesting.

                             

We went completely around a mountain.

We had a guide. The three of us walked single file on the trail with the guide leading the way. She had a walking stick and watched for rattle snakes. I really didn't sleep well the night prior. I thought about snakes all night.

See the stick on the rock? I thought for a second I saw one.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Guess again

No one figured out what yesterday's photo was. Although, someone was close. OK, I'll give two more nature photos today. 

This looks like a bunny stamp to me.

 This has to be the easiest of the three. It's a giveaway really.

Hopefully someone will be able to figure out yesterday's nature photo.