Raccoon Creek State Park: the weekend get away surprise
We had a lazy morning over coffee and french toast. We digested and read our books we brought until about 11 am and then we set out for the day. This was an absolutely gorgeous day for a hike, even though it was only in the thirties with the sun shining we were plenty warm.
We were off for a four hour hike were we went way off any blazed trail for a spectacular adventure. Our tracks we left behind were as new as the wildlife tracks in the fresh snow as we forged our own path. We followed along a small stream and then made our way to the Mineral Springs and falls where we stopped for lunch.
From the springs we made our way over to the wetlands trail where we again deviated from any blazed path. Crossing a precariously perched log, we made for the hills, heading in the general direction of our cabin site. We had no choice but to go up and primarily followed the deer tracks, figuring they had a good idea of the easier even paths up the hillside. I wondered later if anyone would be crazy enough to follow our footsteps, thinking we knew where we were going. If anyone had, they would be surprised to follow us up over the mount, back down and through the wetlands again.
Mark made the analogy that it was like we were heading into Mordor :) as we traversed the partially frozen wetlands and meandering stream, jumping over water gaps and carefully needing to balance across a beaver dam. At one point his foot plunged into icy water as he jumped across from one snowy patch to another.
We eventually crossed paths with a blazed trail that would take us right into our cabin site and decided to head back. Along the way, we spotted and spent a good 20 minutes with a Pileated Woodpecker. The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is no longer on the endangered species list but still has its problems with suitable habitat being maintained. It was amazing how close he let us get to him. We heard the characteristic low toned thumping of his industrious pecking at a branch and listened to his cackling laugh of a call as he hopped up the side of a tree trunk.
We returned to the cabin to remove a few layers and change into dry clean clothes, well, clean enough to be presentable to grab a meal and well deserved pie at a local diner. After dinner we regrouped, showered and snuggled down in the warm cozy cabin, Mark with his book which he finished this evening: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey, a book rather appropriate for a winter cabin get away. I read through the first half of the book I brought along: A Country Year : Living the Questions, also with a similar theme of living on an isolated chunk of land in a cabin... our long term dream. I also brought along my knitting (I am almost finished with the terra cotta blanket).
How cozy for both of us to sit cuddled under the blanket I was working on, Mark reading, both of us enjoying the silence and hot tea. It's almost enough for us to consider getting rid of television all together. Too often we have nights wasted sitting in front of it. One weekend without it and we have time to finish books in a day, work on our own projects, take four hour long hikes and sit back easily entertained by the meditative qualities of a camp fire.
We were off for a four hour hike were we went way off any blazed trail for a spectacular adventure. Our tracks we left behind were as new as the wildlife tracks in the fresh snow as we forged our own path. We followed along a small stream and then made our way to the Mineral Springs and falls where we stopped for lunch.
From the springs we made our way over to the wetlands trail where we again deviated from any blazed path. Crossing a precariously perched log, we made for the hills, heading in the general direction of our cabin site. We had no choice but to go up and primarily followed the deer tracks, figuring they had a good idea of the easier even paths up the hillside. I wondered later if anyone would be crazy enough to follow our footsteps, thinking we knew where we were going. If anyone had, they would be surprised to follow us up over the mount, back down and through the wetlands again.
Mark made the analogy that it was like we were heading into Mordor :) as we traversed the partially frozen wetlands and meandering stream, jumping over water gaps and carefully needing to balance across a beaver dam. At one point his foot plunged into icy water as he jumped across from one snowy patch to another.
We eventually crossed paths with a blazed trail that would take us right into our cabin site and decided to head back. Along the way, we spotted and spent a good 20 minutes with a Pileated Woodpecker. The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is no longer on the endangered species list but still has its problems with suitable habitat being maintained. It was amazing how close he let us get to him. We heard the characteristic low toned thumping of his industrious pecking at a branch and listened to his cackling laugh of a call as he hopped up the side of a tree trunk.
We returned to the cabin to remove a few layers and change into dry clean clothes, well, clean enough to be presentable to grab a meal and well deserved pie at a local diner. After dinner we regrouped, showered and snuggled down in the warm cozy cabin, Mark with his book which he finished this evening: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey, a book rather appropriate for a winter cabin get away. I read through the first half of the book I brought along: A Country Year : Living the Questions, also with a similar theme of living on an isolated chunk of land in a cabin... our long term dream. I also brought along my knitting (I am almost finished with the terra cotta blanket).
How cozy for both of us to sit cuddled under the blanket I was working on, Mark reading, both of us enjoying the silence and hot tea. It's almost enough for us to consider getting rid of television all together. Too often we have nights wasted sitting in front of it. One weekend without it and we have time to finish books in a day, work on our own projects, take four hour long hikes and sit back easily entertained by the meditative qualities of a camp fire.