65 to Go

I got in 8.3 more miles on the trails Monday to leave myself with 65 to go to the end of the year to reach 400 miles. As of right now I've 30 days to do it in.

Monday's hike was pretty much uneventful. With deer season in the furry creatures have gone completely in hiding. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to find a deer hiding in one of the outhouses here. No snorts, no white bobbing tails, no nothing. In some places the birds weren't even singing making it a very quiet hike to say the least. I would have preferred to have had a little company anyway.

I did see one interesting happen just as I was getting back to my truck. I heard a limb slap another one in a sappling next to the small stream you see pictured here. (This stream runs into Lake Celina in Perry County, Indiana where this particular hike took play.) I looked up ahead and saw something fall from a tree and it hit with a hard thump. For a few seconds nothing moved but then this big fox squirrel got up and started walking away. A little later he picked up his pace and crossed the stream over a big, fallen log. His cheeks were all puffed out like he had a late snack he was taking back to his nest. The fall obviously stunned the squirrel or I figure he would have got up faster and took off running but he took his time. I'm betting he might have had a little headache from the fall.

I'm hoping to get an another 11 miles in Sunday. Right now the temp is 27 degrees and dropping very quickly. I'm expecting it to be in the teens by morning. We didn't get much in the way of snow here, only some flurryin' unlike some parts of the country that are kind of in a shutdown mode. Of course that wouldn't have stopped me from getting in some miles anyway. Two years ago we had a 27 inch snowstorm the day after Christmas and I got in four miles on the road that was limited to one lane. I simply put on my Mt. Washington gear and felt great so off I went. I'm hoping for a good 6-8 inch snow sometime this winter to do a good hike in. Sunday's high is supposed to be between 37 and 40 so that will be a good day to hike. Yep....a good day for a looooonnng walk.