Tuesday 3-9 Cloud Covering

 

It's time to go for a hike

It didn't cool off much last night, it only got down to 60 degrees. We had a cloud covering most of the day and it was very humid. The clouds rolled in around 9:30 and brought a wind.

We started the day out by going on another hike, this time we hiked Lake Somerville Trailway. It connects Birch Creek Campground and Nails Creek Campground, 13.44 miles of trail. It starts at the Equestrian Loop at Birch so horses are allowed. The Equestrian sites are very pretty and have corrals and hitching posts. They don't have power but they have water. We picked the trail up at a sign that talks about the Lake Somerville Trailway. We hiked the trail for 2.5 miles and turned around. By the end we had hiked 5 miles for 2 hours. During our hike we saw a herd of about 12 deer, cardinals and a flock of white and black wing birds flying overhead. The trail was mostly out in in the open and it was humid, we were glad when the wind came up. The trail was moderate but flat. Now and then It went by the lake. There were hiking trail markers that told you how far you hiked but they were hard to read because they were faded. We hiked to a covered ramada with trail maps, a hugh trail map and different activities available at Birch Creek and benches where we rested. After resting we headed back to the Minnie. On the way back we saw a snake, I almost stepped on it. It was sunning on the trail. It was a great hike.

Larry resting at the halfway point of the hike

The snake we saw

One of the Equestrian sites

When we got back we rested a little bit. After lunch I did the Daily Challenges and Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 9 minutes and 8 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group. Then I continued reading a book on my Kindle and Larry finished reading his book. Then I went on a hike by myself to get some of my steps. I ended up walking for about an hour. I did the same hike as I did yesterday, except I took the Wilderness Trail instead of the Sunset Loop. When I started out on the hike I met a lady, who does 25,000 steps like I do. On the way back home I saw a family we saw yesterday and a park ranger hiking the trails.

After dinner we went on a 50 minute walk. We walked to the Equestrian Campground and down the main road to the group campground and dining hall. Then we took the lake trail. We thought it would take us directly back to the campground but it took us away from the lake towards the main road and back to the lake. It was very nice. By the time we got home I was almost finished with my daily steps of 25,000. I walked around a bit and ended up with 26,000 steps, which put me in fourth place in my group.