Monday 1-17 Hiking B Loop & Lakeside Trails - Larry Falls

  

Get a buddy and go hiking

We woke up to 44 degrees. Perfect for hiking. We started at 8:30, it was a little cool but once we got going it warmed up. 

We started the day by doing a 4.5 miles hike. We started by hiking to the trailhead. The trail is a loop so you could go either way, however,  the instructions at this park for the multi-use trails are bikes go clockwise and hikers go counter clockwise. It really would not have mattered since we didn't see one bicycle. We took the B Loop Trail, which was  2.7 miles. There was a controlled burn a few days ago to clear out underbrush, the fire was still burning in places causing quite a bit of smoke. It is a very nice trail, it runs through the forest and goes up and down gentle hills. We saw one lady jogging and a young couple hiking. 

We were halfway through the hike when Larry tripped on a root and fell. You might remember back in September when we were in Colorado he fell breaking his left elbow and injuring his wrist requiring us to return home. The elbow is much better but it still gives him some trouble, well, he fell on the same arm re-injuring it. It is swollen and painful, once again he can only move it a limited distance. Definitely not as bad as the last time. He still has the splint from the last fall but it is at home. Hopefully in the morning it feels better.

 

C Loop Trail

 

Still burning

 

Hiking through the controlled burn

I'm still alive

For lunch I made tostadas. Then I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 8 minutes and 54 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group.

With Larry's injuring he unable to hike so after playing games I went on an hour long walk/hike on the Lakeside Trail by myself, this is the same 2.1 miles loop I did yesterday. During the hike I took a short detour and went to the CCC Overlook. When I got to the lighted pier I climbed up some stairs to get to the day area parking lot. From there I climbed up the main road for .25 miles. It was a pretty view of the lake through the trees. Afterwards I walked back to the parking lot to get back on the trail. As I hiked I saw a lot of people enjoying the beautiful day hiking the Lakeside trail, day areas and the lake. People were fishing, canoeing and paddle boating. When I got to the park store I met the grandmother and two granddaughters from yesterday. They said they had so much fun they had to bring mom today. It was nice to see them again. By the end of the hike I had hiked 2.5 miles. I was going to do another lap around the lake but I was getting warm because I had worn a sweat shirt.

A peaceful afternoon fishing 

 

Fishing from a canoe

 

Enjoying the lake in a paddle boat

 

A view of the lake from the CCC Overview

 

One of the screened shelters in the park

The park store

After resting a little bit and changing my shirt I went on another hike around the lake. Then I walked around the camping area for a half hour. 

After dinner I walked around the camping area to complete my steps done. As I was walking I noticed we were going to have a gorgeous full moon. I went home and got the camera and took a picture or two. By the end of the day I did 28,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group.

 

The moon rising over Tyler Lake

I started the day out wearing a sweat shirt and jacket. When I did my afternoon walk I was in a short sleeve shirt. By 4:00 it was 61 degrees. We had a gorgeous day of sunshine.   

Yesterday Big Pine Camping Area was full but by noon today it was almost empty. The families went home. As soon the families left a few people showed up. Now it's not even half full. It was nice to have the families around because they were playing games, watching Sunday football and cheering Dallas on and they had campfires. It's also nice when they leave because it's nice and quiet.