I needed to get out of the office and outside yesterday. Things are a little off and there is no better way to calm down and think than to walk around in the forest for a while. The plan was to leave, right now, and walk from my cabin over to Zigzag Mountain trail #775. 5:30pm I left. Depending on snow, my usual loop on this trail would take me to West Zigzag Mountain trail #789, then junction with that trailhead on road 27, and then the 5.1 mile walk down the road to the junction with Pioneer Bridle trail #795 along Highway 26, then back on down the road to where I sleep. Right around 16 miles and I knew I would be spending half of the time enjoying the darkness.
I must have been taking a break and lying down for this photo, lie down to look at what I saw!
As expected there was still snow, but you can bounce from patch to patch without losing the trail. There were a couple of longer strectches but as long as you are aware of your surroundings, you won't have to leave bread crumbs. This is all said if it is in the daytime. Night fell on me while I was still in the snow patches and I was not sure how much I would find ahead. No GPS with me this time as I walk this route a couple times a year but I always carry map and compass along with the rest of my 10 essentials.
Flowers were out and it is definately time to be logging your mileage. If you wait to long, you will miss out on those first flowers. I missed out on the few Avalanche Lilies that I passed, but did see Star Flower, Common Indian Paintbrush, the Rhodies are blooming, and I think it is looking like a pretty good Beargrass year. Probably half of the Beargrass had stalks shooting up. There were Yellow Violets, Trillium, Fairly Slipper, and much more. Go outside.
I had a fast paced walk after dark was falling and wanted to make sure I was able to pass most of the snowy section before I got in to deep. It worked out good as I made it to West Zigzag trailhead up road 27 at 9:00pm, took a little break and was road walking for the next 5 miles. A gorgeous walk at night or during the day on road 27. Always deer, as there were last night. It was just their eyes reflecting in my headlamp, but they were there. It was a successful walk around and I was able to think a little clearer the more elevation I gained and the darker it got. The moon walked with me the rest of the way home and I walked into my cabin at 12:30pm for a midnight snack and a dream!
I must have been taking a break and lying down for this photo, lie down to look at what I saw!
As expected there was still snow, but you can bounce from patch to patch without losing the trail. There were a couple of longer strectches but as long as you are aware of your surroundings, you won't have to leave bread crumbs. This is all said if it is in the daytime. Night fell on me while I was still in the snow patches and I was not sure how much I would find ahead. No GPS with me this time as I walk this route a couple times a year but I always carry map and compass along with the rest of my 10 essentials.
Flowers were out and it is definately time to be logging your mileage. If you wait to long, you will miss out on those first flowers. I missed out on the few Avalanche Lilies that I passed, but did see Star Flower, Common Indian Paintbrush, the Rhodies are blooming, and I think it is looking like a pretty good Beargrass year. Probably half of the Beargrass had stalks shooting up. There were Yellow Violets, Trillium, Fairly Slipper, and much more. Go outside.
I had a fast paced walk after dark was falling and wanted to make sure I was able to pass most of the snowy section before I got in to deep. It worked out good as I made it to West Zigzag trailhead up road 27 at 9:00pm, took a little break and was road walking for the next 5 miles. A gorgeous walk at night or during the day on road 27. Always deer, as there were last night. It was just their eyes reflecting in my headlamp, but they were there. It was a successful walk around and I was able to think a little clearer the more elevation I gained and the darker it got. The moon walked with me the rest of the way home and I walked into my cabin at 12:30pm for a midnight snack and a dream!
No comments:
Post a Comment