Doralyn lovingly agreed to meet me at the end point so that I could leave my car there and then drive me to the starting point. Today, my plan was to start where I left off the last time out, the 48.8K mark and then hike to the 68.9K mark. Thus, a total of just over 20K!
Yesterday was probably a perfect day for hiking---it was about 20C (60F), hazy and not too humid. There was also a breeze blowing, which was kind of nice.
We managed to find both the end and starting point fairly easily, kissed and waved to each other goodbye and off I went.
Today was a bit of a mixed bag, hiking-wise. One of the things I've enjoyed about the Avon Trail so far is their signage---clear directions on the maps and easy to find blazes. For whatever reason, yesterday I had difficulties with this. Several times I had to re-read the directions and wander aimlessly about, looking for blazes. The saving grace was that I had lots of time for all of this but it just seemed like wasted energy to me and I don't have a lot of that to waste. Eventually I would find my way and then say to myself, after taking another look at the map and directions, "so THAT'S what they were talking about!"
I also ran into a horrendous problem with mosquitoes about two thirds of the way in. I had applied bugspray with DEET in it prior to the hike but it didn't seem to phase them. Whenever I stopped or slowed down, a cloud of them would descend on me. They were so thick it was actually hard to breathe. Part of the problem might have been the time of day (later) and I also noted much stagnant water around. I will need to look at something different for the next time out!
Wildlife-wise, I did manage to startle a couple of deer on occasion, I spotted a turtle swimming down a stream, a toad on the road and, at the edge of a field where the tall grasses started, I noticed these small baby birds darting about. I'm thinking they were partridges or pheasants or maybe even wild turkeys. At any rate, they would rustle around in the grass and I was deathly afraid I was going to step on one!
Lastly---stiles. I have never had to climb so many stiles on a hike, I'm guessing there were about eight of them and the closer it got to the end of the hike, the more difficult it was to throw myself over them! Better than the alternative, I suppose....
Now I present to you the usual huge photo dump, just to prove that I walked the walk!
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| And so it begins |
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| A farmer's bridge. If you look really closely, you can see the first stile of the day, just at the right.. Even farther to the right, there had been a herd of cows up by the farm, at the end of that roadway. When they saw the "new guy" show up, they all headed down to the other end of the pasture to watch me climb the stile! |
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| The second stile of the day, after I had climbed it. As I was approaching it, it appeared as though the cows and I were on the same side of the fence and I had visions of jumping OVER the fence to avoid perhaps an angry bull. Fortunately, by the time I got to the stile, I realized the cows were actually on the other side of the stream you can sort of see at the right. |
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| Into the forest. This part was kind of cool, the pine trees along here formed this long tunnel you had to walk through. |
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| A stretch of roadwalking. I don't usually mind these, as long as there's not too much traffic. Easy kilometers! |
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| Another stile. I sat on top of this one and had a bite to eat as the traffic whizzed by. |
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| Quite a long boardwalk section. It was kind of nice--- you could look at the scenery without having to worry about tripping over a log! |
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| Found this little "cabin in the woods"! Not sure what it's used for? |
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| That's the direction I SHOULD have been headed in... |
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| Back into the forest |
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| ANOTHER stile, this one a little overgrown. |
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| Walking along the edge of the farmer's field. Ran into a lot of farmers working on their fields, actually. Always feels strange, walking on someone else's property, while they're right there... |
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| Just passed through Amulree (love the name) and am headed back into the forest. At this point, the mosquitoes became ravenous! |
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| Quite pretty in there, but was being swarmed as I took the pic. And any pic you see AFTER this was made under great duress! |
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| Signs of former human habitation. |
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| Well, you can SORT of see the trail.... |
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| The cemetery at Lisbon. Was just about to head into the forest for the final time. |
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| My car was in sight when this happened! Ended up on the wrong side of the stream. My feet were killing me, so instead of walking back, I decided to hop the stream. The far side of the stream looked solid, but it was basically quicksand... |
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| Never so glad to see a vehicle! Five or six mosquitoes made in into the car with me, just so they could continue the carnage. See what I did there? |
