Monday 3-21 Hiking the Mountain Fork River Trail

 

Overcast and rain

It was overcast all day. It sprinkled on and off in the morning. and about 2:00 the rain came in. It rained hard for an hour or so. In the evening the rain came back and is suppose to be around through out the night and into the morning.

I slept until 8:30 so we had a quick breakfast. Larry had oatmeal and I had cereal. After breakfast we went on a 4.5 mile hike. We didn't want to go too far because it was suppose to rain. We hiked the Mountain Fork River trail. We walked to the gate and continued on the trail for another mile. We were going to continue but it started to thunder. We hiked by the river and through the trees. There were a couple of swampy areas so we had to figure out the easy way through them without getting our shoes wet. There were some grassy places that were dry we could step on. The terrain was mostly easy, there was one spot where we followed a creek that was challenging because it had loose rocks. Once we had hiked about an hour we turned around.  We were the only ones on the trail. We saw the remains of a couple of old homesteads, all that was left was parts of the foundations, stone walls, steps, old appliances and an old well. Near the campground we said hi to a few people and their dogs. We had a very pleasant hike.

Mountain Fork River

 

Old homestead steps and foundation

Well

 

Rock formation by the river

For lunch Larry had a salad and I had a sandwich. After I rested I went on a hike/walk. I wanted to get my steps in before the rain came. I started by walking around the campground but I didn't get too far when I stopped and visited with our neighbors and a gentleman and his dog. I only made it around the campground once. I went home and dropped off my jacket and told Larry I didn't get far because I got carried away visiting. I told him I was going to walk the river trail and then around the campground. When I got to the gate and turned around and was heading back I heard thunder. I had a mile to go when the rain came. I was hoping it would just sprinkle for another 20 minutes and I would be finished. Nope, it started to come down hard and I was soaked. I saw the dam and I knew I was almost done. I walked through the gate of the parking lot and Larry was walking towards me with an umbrella. I was glad to see him. Thank you honey. When we got back to the Minnie I got out of my wet clothes and changed into sweats.

A short while ago Larry bought us both a pair of hiking pants, we were wearing them today. The material they are made of doesn't take long to dry. We love the pants, they are very comfortable and they don't cling to you when you sweat like jeans do.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Larry read and I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I did the Event: Two Game Tango of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 38 minutes and 24 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

When it was time for dinner I decided to make Tamale Pie. It is very easy to make, you just need a can of chili with beans, corn, cornbread mix, ground beef and salsa. You need an egg and milk for the cornbread mix. You bake it for 20 minutes. It came out delicious. 

  Tamale pie

The rain had stopped for a bit so after dinner we went for a walk around the campground. Larry walked with me for a half hour. We walked to a new campground that's being built and Buckeye Campground. Buckeye is closed but we walked around it. It is gorgeous, right on the river with full hookups and huge concrete slabs. Then we walked around our campground. Larry went back to the Minnie and I continued walking around for another half hour to finish my steps. I ended up doing 27,800 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing with a book. I finished reading Venetian Reckoning last night and started reading Acqua Alta.

Relaxing with a good book