Friday 4-17-26 Hot & Humid Day, Hiking & Having Fun

 

CCC Gatehouse

We had a hot humid windy day. 

We woke up with the temperature of 61 degrees and humid at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park. It got up to 82 degrees. 

I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. Then we had a quick breakfast of a bagel with cream cheese spread and a shake. Afterwards we got ready to go on a hike. Today we rode the motorcycle to the CCC Gatehouse to do the trail. We were going to wait until tomorrow but it's suppose to be in the 30s. We thought it would be a little cold for the 2 mile drive.

We got at the CCC Lodge at 8:00 and parked the motorcycle. There was a trailhead on both sides of the road but we decided to take the one by the lodge. Larry had downloaded the trail to his phone so we could follow it and not get lost. The trailhead had a hiking sign that told us how far the point of interest were on the trail. They were 2nd Shelter .6 mile, Ely Ford .9 mile, 1st Shelter 2 miles and Keosauqua Bridge 3 miles. The trail took us up and down hills through the forest, across a creek, along the banks of the river, across the park road, by a shelter and to Lacey's monument. It was a great trail we started along the river and crossed over a creek a couple of times via bridges. The first bridge was built in 2024 over an old bridge. We saw a lot of beautiful views of the Des Monies River. As we hiked we passed a sign, that read Monument Trail. We said we'll do it after we finished this trail. Then we passed by shelter 2 on the hill but not too far when the trail took us up the hill to the shelter. It was a gorgeous shelter built by the CCC and is still being used by the local people. It had picnic tables and a huge fireplace. After walking around the shelter we took the road not too far and picked up the trail once again. We continued climbing up a hill. It was very humid, we had to stop once or twice to catch our breath. It didn't seem too steep because you gradually climb but it went a long ways. We hiked through a couple of meadows of wildflowers. We came across another trail to the monument, it was only .4 mile so we took the trail to the monument. When we got to the monument we were disappointed because it was a boulder in memory of Major John Fletcher Lacey. We turned around and hiked back to the Gatehouse trail. We hiked the trail back to the CCC Gatehouse, which was .4 mile. This section of the trail we climbed another hill gradually to a bridge that went over the creek. We crossed over the bridge and hiked to the gatehouse. Then we crossed the street to where the motorcycle was. Before getting on the motorcycle we walked to the lodge and sat down at a picnic table to rest. They were mowing and weed-eating around the lodge. There were a couple of guys getting the lodge ready for the wedding later on. They had a very friendly Minatare Australian Shepard. She came running up to us to say hi. We said hi to her owners also. While sitting there a lady walked by with a golden retriever and we said hi to her. We weren't there too long because they were mowing. By the end of the hike we had done 2.4 miles in an hour and a half. The wind came up.

The bridge rebuilt in 2024

CCC Rock Steps we didn't do

Des Moines River from the trail

Larry enjoying the CCC Shelter #2

Major John Fletcher Lacey Monument

Meadow of wildflowers

Bridge to the CCC Gatehouse

On the way back to the Minnie we rode to Lake Sugema, it was only a few miles from the campground. It was very windy Larry had to hold on to his hat so it wouldn't blow away. It wasn't that big of a lake but it had a lot of boat parking. It had a very nice permanent fishing dock. It had a two lane boat ramp. After walking around the parking area and looking at the lake we got back on the motorcycle and went back to the Minnie. We had a great hike and motorcycle ride. 

Lake Sugema in the State Forest

Lake Sugema fishing dock

While eating lunch Larry went on a weather application to see what was happening with the weather. The wind was blowing very hard. He said that we were going to get a front come through around 5:00. After we finished eating lunch I decided to do my three mile walk before the storms come in. The park has a paved walking trail down to the cabins, which was .4 mile long. We clocked it while we were riding around. I walked the paved trail to the cabins, they are located by the park office. When I got to the park office I walked across the road to the office, where there was a sculpture of  Major John Fletcher Lacey and a bird watching area. I took a picture of the sculpture and walked in the building for the watchers to see the birds. Then I walked back across the street and walked to the cabins. I walked around the cabins area, which was a small area they had six cabins. They looked very well taken care of. Next stop was down at the end of the road, where there was the Beach Lodge. It was closed but there was a guy working on it to get it ready for the season. It a beautiful large building. It looked like it was originally built by the CCC. Then I headed back to the campground, where I walked around the two loops three times. I walked for an hour and did three miles. 

A swing on the paved walkway in memory of Jim and Marilyn Wiley

Signage for the wedding at the CCC Lodge

Major John Fletcher Lacey

View from the bird blind

Cabin #6

Beach Lodge

By the time I got back to Larry I was hot and tired. Before resting I took my cans over to their recycling area. There is a big basket where you put your aluminum cans and a sign. The sign said for each can they get 5 cents and this helps keep the park up.

When I got back I took a nap for a couple of hours. Larry read. He started a book and finished it in the evening.

At 4:15 the front rolled in with thunder, lightening and a lot of rain. We were under a tornado watch from 4:30 to 5:15. About 5:40 the rain let up but it stayed around all evening.

I spent the evening playing games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Klondike Mini of five games. It took me 9 minutes and 40 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After I finished playing games I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom. I ended up doing 15,000 steps.