Osborne Bend Trail

The main roads are clear after the recent snow, but the parking lots and side roads are still snowy in Red River Gorge, making finding a place to pull over and hike a little difficult.

The lot for the Osborne Bend Trail that climbs above the Red River was partially plowed so I pulled in and started up.  After a few days in a row over 40F it is very mushy and wet work. But I'll take it any day since this is not what winter is like in Wisconsin.  I'll say it again WIND MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!  The same temps back home feel 20 degrees colder when the wind chill is factored in.  Walking in this kind of weather felt like a blessing and not a curse.  I even took my gloves off for minutes at a time!

Only footprints are mine - no one has been here in at least 4 days!

It's kind of hard to find fungi under all that snow, so I looked up instead of down.  Those blowdowns across the trail were great sources of lichen and fungi.

lichen

fungi

Downed trees weren't the only things I walked underneath.

And tiny quartz pebbles are fun to find too.  Not sure but I think it is sandstone and not limestone.

Though there are 150 arches within the Red River Gorge I haven't seen any of them yet.

I only went up about 3/4 of a mile, which was plenty in the slushy snow.  Back down at the trailhead I admired the view of the Red River but definitely wasn't tempted to go for a swim.

Cory skipped the wet hike, but next up we're hitting the area art scene in search of some cool sculptures.  Maybe we'll even take one home with us.