12/10/13 City Forest

Gray cold morning. After yesterday's adventure we decided City Forest would be a good choice for today - no climbing but the ice situation was unknown.

Heading across the meadow toward the pond - not a cheery scene but some interesting colors in the sky

No swimming in the pond today

We took the West Trail  to the old rail bed and I found some things to photograph. The nice thing about the snow is that it isolates objects from their surroundings

When we get to the rail bed we usually go north a short distance to a marshy very wet area and then turn back. Today, however, it was frozen and looked like it would support us.

In this marshy area there are the remains of what look like old pilings from the railroad and they have been colonized by plants

The ice did support us and we were soon onto the drier section. It was not as attractive as last year because they have bush hogged along one side ( as they have other sections and part of the Loop trail in adjacent Walden Parke) - I think it has to do with a gas pipe line.

Nevertheless, we walked it to Forest Ave, before turning around. We walked back and continued on the rail bed to the unnamed trail we take back to West Trail.

I found one more weed

Just before we turn off the rail bed the bush hogging ends and the trail is more attractive from that point on.

We took our little trail and then the West back to the pond and our start. We were most of the way up the hill when Kelley plunked down and stopped following me.

I called her but she just looked at me/ This had happened once before and that time I had decided she was saying she wasn't ready to stop the hike. I continued walking and she gave up and followed me to the car.

It had turned out to be a very pleasant hike, There was some ice on the trails but just enough snow to keep me from slipping. It had been very peaceful and quiet and we had not met a single person- very unusual. Kelley wasn't able to find water to get into but there was water to drink .  2  1/2 hours