Hill Work

So much to talk about this morning!  I shot the above picture on the Ice Age Trail on Friday using a well placed bench, little did I know that the Gorillapod I ordered was sitting at home waiting.  Linda had recommended it to me a long time ago when I mentioned my difficulty getting shots of myself while alone, but I forgot about it until Kim buzzed along and jogged my memory by commenting on that old post.  She suggested the Stick Pic, which I might look into as well.  That attaches to the end of your hiking pole..except I don't own a hiking pole yet!  Maybe soon, I'm thinking it's probably time.

Moraine Ridge Trail

On Friday morning I pulled into the Ottawa Trails parking lot to check it out.  It's a horse trail system, and the lot was full on Saturday but empty on Friday.  Due to the heavy overnight rain it was a bit messier than I was prepared to deal with, but the intersecting Moraine Ridge Trail was high and dry and free of horse dung.

Bees drying out

 Most of the ground in this area is very sandy, so even with heavy rain the hiking is still good.  I walked about 2.5 miles before getting back in my car and driving to Oconomowoc to do a few things while keeping an eye on the weather.

By mid afternoon it was obvious the rain was done for the day even though it was still overcast, so I walked fifteen minutes from my campsite to the Ice Age Trail.  The trail crosses the Scuppernong Trails and I struck off in a different direction that what I've gone in the past.

At a few spots what was either the remains of an old wall or some other boundary line crossed the trail, much like what I've seen in the Smokies.  Like how I snuck mentioning the Smokies in?  It was inevitable.

Is this my good side?

Or is this my good side?

 The trail went down, down, down, which was exactly what I wanted to prepare for those hikes in the mountains in October.

This way down...and down...and down

What goes down eventually has to come back up though, right?  I was plenty tired.  I did a total of 5 miles, half of it hill work on Friday.  On Saturday morning I got up and did 5 miles total on that same stretch of trail, ALL hill work.  Today the bottom of my feet are sore and the tendons around my knees are throbbing mildly, but not too bad for 10 miles in two days. Tomorrow I'll show you one of the murals I found in Oconomowoc, and Tuesday I have some trailside fungi to share.