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 …
I biked out to the dam at Dow Lake intending to take a quick hike on Hickory Trail. But it was a beautiful day and I felt great walking Hickory, so I decided to walk all the way around the lake, connecting up with Lakeview Trail to complete the loop. All in, I walked almost 8 miles with great lake views most of the way. That and the bike ride gave me my highest step count ever: 30,000 steps.
Next I want to do the same at Burr Oak, but I suspect that will be a larger project. It’s a much bigger lake, which might be an excuse for my first backpacking trip …
The day was crap. Overcast. Cool. More March than June. Perfect day for a hike.
I drove up to Stroud’s Run, where I pulled into the trailhead at White Pine Trail, which is a spur trail connecting to Vista Point Trail. As is the case with most of the trails at Stroud’s, it’s in rough shape … but still quite serviceable. Where White Pine intersects Vista, I tool a left and headed north onto Vista Point Trail, hopping over to the Thunderbunny bike trail at one point and then back to Vista Point, which runs along a ridgeline before dropping down the opposite side into the campground. A quick walk through the campground allowed me to pick up Vista again near the amphitheater, where the Vista trailhead is.
After climbing back up to the ridge on Vista, I came across Vista Point and a great view of Dow Lake down below. Not much wildlife was out during my late-afternoon hike, but I did encounter a few mountain bikers on Thunderbunny and a woman hiking with her lab. Finding Vista Point and checking out the campground make the hike well worth it.
