Monday 4-10-23 Hiking Lake Trail at Natchez Trace

 

  

Camping at Natchez Trace

We had a gorgeous day with a lot of sunshine. We woke to the temperature in the low 40s and it got to 73 degrees. The skies were clear of clouds. 

I woke up about 7:30. I made mini waffles for breakfast. After breakfast we went on a three hour hike for 6.5 miles. We hiked the lake trail, which is a 5.8 mile loop. We got as far as three miles and had to turn around because it became too muddy. Larry tried to find a way around the muddy area but it did not seem possible. We really didn't want to turn around because we were past the halfway point and it would have been shorter to continue on.

We started the hike by taking the bridge to the cabins area where we picked up the Lake Trail (orange dots on trees). The trail took us through the forest and around the lake. At places we had to figure how to get around the mud. The trail was well used and well maintained. You had to be careful because there were tree roots in the trail. Along the hike we saw the dogwood trees in bloom (white and pink). They smelled good. We saw some wildflowers and small butterflies. The birds were a chirping. It sounded like a spring day. Occasionally we saw Cub Lake, it was very calm. We rested now and then on a fallen tree. We crossed the creeks via bridges and stones. We hiked by the dam overflow bridge. When we got back to the cabins we had to rest a bit. While resting we saw beautiful wildflowers by cabin #12. When we were crossing the bridge back to the campground we met some kids. More kids were playing on the beach and in the water. It was good to hear the kids enjoying being kids. Even though there was mud at times it was a super hike. By the time we got home we were exhausted.

 

Bridge to cross a creek

 

Dogwoods in bloom

 

Dam overflow

 

The bridge we turned around at

 

Wildflowers at the cabins

After resting a little bit I made sandwiches for lunch. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. Larry read and I played some games. I played my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I did the event, which was Event: Easy Street Mini of 5 games. It took me 10 minutes and 20 seconds to complete. which put me in 22nd place in my group.

For dinner we barbecued pork sausage. After dinner I walked around for about an hour. I walked around the day area and the cabin area. The park has 15 cabins for rent and they are very nice looking. When we passed by them on the way back from the hike we saw a van in front of one cleaning it. It looks like they supply the linens for the cabins. This is very nice because some places require you to bring your own. When I was walking over the bridge to get back to the campground I stopped and visited with a few of the locals fishing. I had a pleasant walk. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which is a great beginning for the week. This put me in 2nd place in my group.

I started reading a book on my Kindle titled A Girl Called Samson: A Novel by Amy Harmon. So far it's good. Amy really knows how to write. Larry reads so much more than I so I always have him recommend a book he thinks I will like. This book is about a young woman, Deborah Samson who dresses up as a man and becomes a soldier to fight for the Independence of the American colonies from Britain in 1780 at the age of 20. It is based on a true story.