I took a hike through the Kreutzberg Canyon Natural Area today. I saw one beautiful red flower growing along the entrance road as we were driving down to the river parking area. Figured I would see more of them along my hike, but I never did see another red flower like that one. Fortunately it was still there when Mr. Grinch picked me back up from the park when I finished my hike, so I took a photo of it to share, and hopefully find out what kind of flower it is.
The first thing of interest I saw along the hiking trail I took was a bit of beautiful web witchery. Oh how I love these kinds of tangled webs. I took a nice shot of it, then continued along the trail. I saw one of those wide inviting trails I love so much, and headed down it. The map I had printed out to carry with me on the hike was still in my backpack, so I really had no idea where I was going on this trail, and didn't care. After awhile the wide inviting trail changed, and I saw some very clear deer tracks in the dirt track I was now following. I snapped a pic of them, and continued on. Eventually I wound up back at the picnic tables near the river parking lot, and decided it was a good time for a short water break.After the
water break I headed down the trail to the river, followed the river for a little while, then turned around. As I was coming back up the that trail I took a picture of a whimsical piece of nature's architecture that had caught my eye as I went up that riverbank trail.I hooked a left after coming up from the river bank, and set off down another series of trails. Those trails took me on a lovely hike that left me a little physically tired, but extremely spiritually rejuvenated. I startled another Jackrabbit as I was going down one trail. He sat very still for a few seconds as if posing. But, wouldn't you know the moment I raised the camera to my eye, he decided to take off. I managed to snap one quick photo of him which turned out okay.
I finally made my meandering way back to where I had started my hike with 30 minutes to spare before Mr. Grinch would be there to pick me up. I sat down at one of the nearby picnic tables and had a snack while I rested and waited for him. Jack Links, teriyaki beef steak nuggets, crackers, trail mix, and water never tasted so good!
I had downloaded a nifty little app called All Trails to my iPhone last night because I wanted a way to keep track of the trails I have hiked, and how far I went while hiking them. According to the Tracks feature on it, I hiked over 3 miles today at an average speed of 1.6 mph. My moving speed was 2.1 mph. There were times my top speed was a fast 5.1 mph. All in all, it this hike was certainly a good stretch of the legs.
To see all the photos I took while hiking today Click Here and choose Kreutzberg Canyon Natural Area
