Monday 1-23-23 Camping & Hiking at Meridian

 

Meridian State Park entrance

We had a gorgeous day. We had sunshine and a lite breeze. The low was 24 degrees and the high was 55 degrees. 

Camping at Meridian State Park

Yesterday, we set up the two small heaters (one on the table and the other at the kitchen sink). When I went to bed I adjusted the heaters controls to 66 degrees. Larry gets up a couple of hours earlier then I so he turned the controls up to 70 or so. The heater on the table was running on high when I got up. It was a little nippy but comfortable. After I got dressed we had leftover danishes for breakfast.

To prevent blisters on longer hikes Larry has to apply tape to multiple places on both feet. When he finished we went on a four mile hike. We started at the CCC Refectory and picked up the Bosque Trail (blue dots). We hiked over the CCC dam to the trail on the other side of the lake. We hiked the trail to a cove where we had to climb a few steps to get to the road. From there we hiked the road for a little ways to the tent campground. We walked by a tenter and their dogs barked to say hi. We rested there and enjoyed the view of the lake. After our rest we continued on the blue trail. As we were climbing up a hill I tripped and fell. Larry tried to catch me before I hit the ground but my momentum was too fast. I scrapped me knee but I was alright. I bounced right back up and we continued our hike. We walked the trail until we reached the Bee Ledge. The ledge got it's name because there use to be a giant bee hive hanging from the ledge. Years ago people used to carve their initials in the limestone. We climbed the steps to get to the overlook of Lake Meridian. After looking at the view we took the trail to where it joined Little Forest Junior Trail (yellow dots). We hiked this trail to Little Springs Trail (orange dots). Then we hiked this trail back to the campground. We had a super hike.

 

Initials in the limestone at Bee Ledge

A rental cabin in the park looking over Lake Meridian

Beach area on Lake Meridian

The Bosque trail is 2.2 miles around Lake Meridian, at places it was challenging because you had to climb up hills and take a cable down a steep hill. The Little Forest Junior trail is .8 miles through the forest and through a meadow, where in the springtime you can see wildflowers. The Little Springs trail is .7 mile loop that goes up and down hills through the forest. All the trails have rocks and roots on them so you have to be careful but they're beautiful trails.

In the afternoon I went on a walk for an hour. I hiked the Little Springs Trail three times. It was an easy trail and nice. 

Before dinner I did the 16 games to earn the gold ticket so my points would double while playing Solitaire. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I did the event, which was Event: Medium Mayhem Mini of 5 games. It took me 13 minutes and 3 seconds, which put me in 

It's suppose to rain all day tomorrow so after dinner I folded up the chairs and put them away. We had barbecued pork sausage patties for dinner so Larry put the grill away after it cooled off. 

Afterwards we went for an hour walk. Larry walked with me for 40 minutes. We walked the park road. We started at the Minnie and turned right by the Refectory. We walked the road past the CCC bridge towards the main entrance. By the time we got back to our campground we had walked over 2 miles. When we got to the sign to go to our site and the smaller sites Larry turned to go back to the Minnie I walked to the Little Springs trailhead. I visited with the campers there for a bit. Then I walked the trail. By the time I got home I had walked 3 miles. It was a great walk.

When I got home I finished my steps. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which puts me in 1st place in my group for the start of a new week of my challenge of 175,000 steps.