Walking the Trails in 2016 Installment Two

A perfect day for a walk.  Considering that rain is predicted all of next week we decided to check out the Cedar Creek Trail.  It was in the path of some high winds last year and was closed for a long time.  After a major pick-up it was reopened.  It is still winter on the Trail.  I saw a few wild flowers, but no buds on the trees.  The evidence of the damage really showed with no foliage to hide all of the downed trees.  

After parking the car at Lot A we walked about 1.5 miles of the 3 miles of trails.  We took the Blue Bird Path to the Mourning Dove Path and turned around about half way.  

Then, we took the Kingfish Loop and back to the car. We'll go back when it is in foliage and walk the other 1.5 miles. 

Along the trail we saw some cairns, 

a few wild flowers, 

evidence of a beaver (maybe), 

and a lot dormant hardwoods.

The only evidence of Spring is in my back yard. 

 A single omen that Spring might be on its way.

Through States 22-24 of 50*

Some States I traveled through on the way to somewhere else.  Here are three of them that we went through on the way to and from Maine in 2014.

West Virginia:
We hit the Eastern corner of West Virginia on I-81 and zipped through Martinsburg into Pennsylvania.  We were there long enough to say we had been 'Through'. Don't think we'll ever go back and add it to our 'Been To' list.

New Hampshire:
We entered New Hampshire from Massachusetts on the Blue Star Hwy.-I-95. After stopping in Portsmouth we went into Maine.  Probably will not get back to New Hampshire either.


Kentucky:

On the way home to we went through Kentucky from Ohio.  We went through Louisville and Elizabethtown.  I am hoping to go to the Kentucky Derby one day and add it to our 'Been To' list.
We crossed the border at Fulton where we spent the night at Union City, Tennessee.  It seems that when home was in our sights there was no stopping until we got there.  No sight-seeing or dawdling for us. 

*For "new to my blog" friends...on May 17, 2010, I visited Wisconsin.

I can now say that I have been in, to or through all 50 United States.

I am committed to make an Artist Trading Card "ATC" for each of

the 50 States.

Walking the Trails Again in 2016...

Hot Springs Village has 15 trails totaling 30 miles for running, walking, hiking, or biking. In 2012 and 2013 we walked all of them.  The weather has been so nice this winter we decided to make a return trip to each of them.  The first on our list was the closest to us and we wanted to see how it fared.  The lake beside the trail had been plagued with an algae type scum and was taking over.  It was not a pretty sight and still is a mess.  It looks as if it has been drained in hopes of killing the algae.  I am hoping it succeeds because it is an interesting trail for birds and plant life. 

 

In fact, my first trip down the trail was a bird walk on a cold March morning around 8:00 am. The Hot Springs Village Audubon Society conducted the tour. I was so cold that all I remember seeing was a cardinal and I could see those in my backyard. Oh and I heard a few tweets and twitters.

Pictures from our walk this year.

Turtles

Trees

Turtles and Trees

Trail's End

Sums it up for this Trail in 2016