CHILLED

You know how most of like ice in our drinks when we're out. Well Sunday I had ice on my hike on the trail voted by Backpacker magazine as the #1 dayhike trail in Indiana, the Two Lakes Loops Trail. This is a trail I really like and one that I've done lots of times, since it's only 20 minutes from where I live. (Eat your hearts out guys far away.) Anyway Sunday morning the temps were in the middle 20's when I left but was supposed to be in the 50's later in the day. I got to my starting point where there's a small stream that runs into Celina Lake and found this nice coating of ice. Once I got to walking on the trail it didn't take long to get warmed up and the cooler temps actually felt pretty good.

I had two small streams to cross and because I was doing the loop backwards (just wanted to give it a different look) they both come up pretty quick. At the first crossing the water splashed up under this log forming some neat formations. On the pools a layer of ice thick enough that I couldn't break it with my hiking pole spread out for several yards. Earlier in the week the lows had dropped into the single digits and a lot of ice was on both sides of the creek.

After that crossing I walked another couple of hundred yards where I had my second crossing. This one was different because I couldn't just hop across the water like I had the first time. I didn't want to get my boots and socks wet so that meant doing a little wading, and I knew what that was going to feel like. So off came the boots and the socks. I just kind of stood there at first looking at the water the counted 1, 2, 3 and waded very briskly. With the water temperature being only about 33 or 34 degrees it didn't take long for the pain to set in even though it was only seconds in duration. The good thing was the sun was shining big and bright and quickly warmed my feet as I dried them off. It was a lot better having dry socks and boots to put back on than having to worry about wet ones. Now I know how an olive in a cold martini feels.

When I first started the hike I was on a pace to do the 12 miles in about 6 hours. I stopped for a couple of picture breaks and also a bathroom break then a little later for a quick lunch break. But then I got in a rythm I hadn't felt before. I wasn't having much problem with my knee so I kept going and now slowing down much. The knee finally started talking to me at about 10 miles but not enough to make much different. I was still feeling pretty good. I did take one more water break before finally finishing things out. When I got back to my truck I found that I had done the 12 miles in 5 hours, 3 minutes. Now I know that for some of you New England hikers that's no big deal but for me it was. That was 35 minutes better than my best on that same trail. Not bad for an old guy either.

That leaves me with 42 miles to go to hit 400 for the year. I'm going to do 12 more this weekend (not sure where yet) and get ready for the home stretch. Whether or not I've got the 400 in I'll still be doing my big hike on New Year's Eve. It just seems like a good way to end the year.