Not sure why it took this long, but I finally got back on the water. Yesterday was perfect. Breezy. Low humidity. Sunny. I went up to Stroud’s Run and circumnavigated Dow Lake. Despite the fact it was high noon, I saw a good bit of wildlife: an osprey, several blue herons, an otter and a gang of kingfishers noisily working one of the coves. It was a great way to get back in the groove, but I’m definitely feeling it this morning …
After hiking Hickory Trail, which hugs the southern shore of Dow Lake, I set off yesterday to try Lakeview Trail, which tracks the northern shore, including a long leg that circumnavigates Pine Cove.
What a contrast.
While Hickory Trail was in great shape, Lakeview was pretty much of a mess. Several stretches of it were more creek than trail and parts are already getting overgrown with weeds. But I still loved it.
I biked to the dam and set off on Lakeview from there. I must have missed the formal trailhead because the path I took in was closer to bushwhacking than hiking. After a bit of a slog, I found the trail’s thread but things grew only nominally better. The trail is in rough shape all the way to Whitesel Junction, where Groundpine Run feeds into Pine Cove. I set off at about noon, so the woods were quite. Everyone was hunkered down for siesta. Even the omnipresent chipmunks were unusually quiet. I did startle a black vulture along the shoreline, the whoosh of his wings echoing through the piney cove as his ominous shadow lumbered across the water.
At Whitesel Junction, the trail grew noticeably better but it still tended to meander around a bit. I walked all the way to the parking lot at the swimming area, stopped to eat a few apples, drink water and marvel at the day. During the return trip, I diverted to Amoretto Trail, a horse trail that cuts up the hill to a ridgeline trail called Lake Hill Trail. From there I picked up Indian Mound Trail, taking me back down to the dam. (Not sure if I spotted an actual Indian mound along the trail, though there was one hill that I suspected could be it.)
A few tidbits I picked up along the way:
Distance: About 8 miles RT hiking Lakeview Trail out and diverting to the Amoretto Trail and Indian Mound Trail to loop back to the dam during my return; 8.9 miles RT biking to the trail head and back.
Bike route: Route details from Cyclometer.
Highlight: The wind picked up as I returned to the dam, creating crazy-beautiful patterns in the tall grasses that carpet the dam.
Link: Athens Trails
Critters: A mountain biker, a few squirrels and chipmunks, a black vulture, two swimming dogs, assorted songbirds, a pair of horses ridden by very loud women.
Song: I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, a nasty earworm that infected me the previous night while watching the Mad Men finale on DVR.
For my first hike of the season, I decided to ride my bike out to the dam at Dow Lake and then hike up into Stroud’s Run State Park. I’ve been there several times and always vowed to spend more time there. I decided to hike Hickory Trail, which is relatively flat and follows the southern shore of the lake. Good decision. While it took me a few hours and taxed me my first time out, the hike was beautiful.
The trail itself is mostly double track and very easy to negotiate. It circumnavigates several small coves, so it’s longer than it looks. Great views across the lake of the swimming area and boat rental shack. Chipmunks were tweaking on the May sunshine, skittering through the brush ahead of me like a reverse wake as I talked,. A flutter of blue-black butterflies hovered over scat of undetermined origin. The air was treacly with honeysuckle and buzzing bees.
When I reached the end of Hickory I picked up Trace Trail for a short bit to check out Pioneer Cemetery, featuring a few lonely tombstones from the Gillette family, who originally farmed the area. I found it fascinating that the patriarch was a tanner who worked with more than a few puma hides.
After a short break, I doubled back and returned to the dam and my bike, stopping along the way to peer into a mud puddle post-plops to see three frogs hunkered down in the mud, hoping I’d keep moving.The puddle had an odd rust tint to it. I’m assuming that’s iron oxide from the shale redbeds in the park. I also came across a pair of jubilant Labs chasing sticks into the lake, bringing chaos to a silent tree swing I’d passed on my way out.
