QUAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL

Last Friday morning you didn't need to set your alarm or even need a wakeup call if you were in a motel around here. Mother Nature did that for you around 5:37 am. I had woke up with a leg cramp and was trying to straighten it out when all of a sudden I began to hear a large roar. At first I thought it was a big wind and I looked toward then wind. That's when the bed started jumping up and down as an earthquake began to rattle the house.

I said 'Earthquake!' to my wife Peggy and she said, 'No it's not, Baxter (our dog) is just scratching his back under the bed.' I got up real quick and went in the dining room to see the chain lamp swinging back and forth. We then turned on the television to see that they had felt it too and WAVE 3 in Louisville, KY replayed video of their light fixtures bouncing up and down.

The picture here is of the main shock (in blue) and the aftershock that followed 5 hours later. The main shock measured in at 5.4 on the Richter scale at first but was later downgraded to a 5.2. The aftershock (in red) measured in at 4.6.

I went around talking to people for a story for our local paper and most had the same experience as me, hearing the roar before the jolt hit. Some people, however, told me they slept through it and didn't hear a thing or even feel anything. Those people also told me they wish they had been awake so they could have felt it. There was another aftershock Monday morning at 1:37 that measured in at 4.0. It felt like a bowl of jello quivering when it hit.

I've talked with people from the United State Geological Survey (USGS) and they told me the aftershocks could go on for months with the possibility of an aftershock bigger than the initial quake.

The main shock was felt in 11 states from Wisconsin to Georgia from Kansas to eastern Ohio. One girl just 38 miles from the epicenter told me all she had to do to know what was going on was to look at a chair in her room that was rolling back and forth.

I must admit it tattered the nerves a wee bit when it first happened but then the adrenaline gland kicked in and I've been waiting to feel more aftershocks. I think we'll get another one that we'll be able to feel because the it's been really quiet there the last 36 hours with only aftershocks not even a flea could feel. I've been monitoring a seismogram in Ebenezer, Tennessee to keep track of how things are going with it.

It was my second quake, having felt in in 1987 that was a 5.1 but this one was much stronger and a lot louder.

But I guess the main thing now is just wait and see what quakes next. New Madrid is overdue for a big one. When that one hits you just won't shake. You'll have trouble just standing up. We'll wait and see.

WHEN THE CLOUDS COME TO YOU

Sunday I decided it was time to go back to the Two Lakes trail in Perry County, Indiana for an 8-miler. What made this hike so cool was the fog that kept the temps down and the ground damp.

First of all there was a lot of people in the woods on this trip, more than I really expected. I saw one group of about ten when I first started and more along the way. The first thing that caught my eye, though, were all these spider webs on the ground that you normally don't see otherwise. The heavy dew had made them all quite visible and there were literally tens of thousands of them along the way. Somewhere in that black hole you see there is a spider waiting for his breakfast to land in the web. A lot of his cousins were doing exactly the same thing.

It was also the time for the sprouting of the annual mayapple crop. Besides the thousands of spider webs there were also thousands of the small umbrella like plants starting to sprout everywhere. This one looked like he was about to be eaten by the log next to him but in reality he was really quiet safe. (Although that 'eye' on that log looks a little hungry if you ask me.) Not long after I got past him I heard a shotgun blast not too far from me in the woods. Turkey season had come in and this guy was close but the weird thing was I didn't hear any turkeys around. And in this case I know I would have heard something. I think the guy was someplace he wasn't supposed to be really.

I also found these freshly grown moss balls along the way. They actually looked like you could have put your toes on them and given your feet a massage. I think it would have felt good too meself. My favorite stream, which I've shown you many time was running like it should. I stopped for a few minutes to listen to the running water but didn't stay to eat this time. I wanted to gain a little more ground and go about another half mile before taking a lunch break at Lake Celina.

I know this picture is on the small side but really this is how Celina looked this day with fog hanging over the trees. Though you can't see them there were a group of kayakers farther over on the right and a cople of canoeists on the water too. This was a good spot for my lunch break with it fairly quiet. After the break I hiked back into the woods and got around the next inlet then heard the sound of a loon somewhere on the lake. If you've never heard one I can tell you you won't ever forget after you hear it. I've seen them here before and like to watch them more than the ducks and geese.

Finally there is this. I know, it just looks like a regular creek bed. Well.....sometimes Mother Nature doesn't like the way things sit so she decides to change things. The creek bed on the right used to be the dominant stream with all the water flowing down the right side. If you go there now you'll find a big pile of sandstone rock blocking the creek bed and the washed out area on the left that allows the water to pass down that side. The bed on the left can actually handle more water so I guess it is really for the best. She really knows what she's doing.

BACK TO THE WOODS!!!

Well.....I'm finally back on the trails again. This particular hike came back in March so I know I'm a little slow getting back on here.

This hike was on the Adventure Trail in the Harrison-Crawford State Forest in southern Indiana. It had warmed back up in the 70's and there was just the need to get out and say hello to the trees again. This was my first hike since the floods we had here and one good thing about all the rain was the springs were back at full flow again. That meant plenty of water sources in case I needed them.

There were several people out hiking besides me. I guess everybody had gotten a little stir crazy and needed to get out like I did. Even the horse riders were out trying to take in some fresh air.

I've shown you this picture before but what makes it different is the fact that the water is muddy brown and the water levels are almost out of their banks. This is Indian Creek near the Indian Creek Shelter on the trail and 300 feet below me. It was running at an accelerated pace with the flooding current. The 5 1/2 mile hike back to the truck was much quieter than it had been going in as I met pretty much no one. I did find one group from Indianapolis resting by Old Forest Road and waiting for a ride to pick them up but for me it was another 2 1/2 miles to go. But that was okay. I was in need of the miles anyway.

With some disappointment it looks like I won't be going back to Mt. Washington this year because of the gas prices, which has made it difficult to just about anywhere. so I'll just be patient and wait, I hope, for things to get better. But I've still got the Smokies only five hours away so hopefully I'll be able to get at least to one mountain this year.