Today's hike was a magical mystery tour through the Red Pine Trail. Music was supplied by pine siskins, chickadees, nuthatches, and Canada geese. They are baaaaack!
A volunteer trail keeper told us that some Trumpeter swans and Snow geese had been on the river last week.
We did not use snowshoes , but the ski poles helped us with our balance and grip as we navigated the steep uphill climbs.
We cut through the red pine trail past the first set of bird feeders at the boulders. Then we were off across the main trail to the Rapids
and then up the hill to the erratic. Another trail led us back down to the main trail again to another trail through more red pines.
A fox had been listening for mice under the snow cover and must have found its quarry! Moose may have been wandering the trails a while ago. Large depressions in the trail were seen here and there which led us to that conclusion.
The water at the upper rapids was
running fast but, we decided it was too breezy to have lunch there.
We returned to the lower Rapids and enjoyed a relaxed lunch with chickadees and pine siskins refusing to pose for photos or take seeds from outstretched hands.
A relaxed hike for a Thursday morning but, sometimes we need that. It was the calm before the predicted storm this weekend.
Ten hikers finished a distance of
5.5 km . Enough time was left in the day for shopping, or visiting, or appointments, and then napping in the afternoon.
