A couple of firsts! Hiked 9 miles of Miller Peninsula and there was not one mosquito! Not one! Also, other than a few spots on West Diamond Point Trail, there was not much mud! The weather was excellent for hiking, and Miller Peninsula is a pretty hike.
All was not wonderful, however. I had not intended to do a 9-mile hike. As has been mentioned in other posts, it is easy to wind up on a trail that you didn’t intend. There are trails that are not on the map, (Cable Trail, Belly Deep), and trying to relate the trail markers to the map can be confusing. My plan was to take the Bluff Trail to the Bluff Trail Cutoff to Fireweed Road. On the map, it looks like the Cutoff intersects with Fireweed Road. But, according to the trail markers, it is actually Bluff Trail that intersects with Fireweed Road. Trying to relate the trail markers to the map was confusing enough that I went the wrong way and wound up doing the Cutoff twice.
Much of Yarrow Trail sees so little use that it looks for all the world to be just another critter trail. Also, there were some spots where bicyclists are riding up and down some of the edges of the trail as if it were a skate park, which is causing erosion.
I had hoped for some autumn colors, but many of the deciduous trees have already lost their leaves and most of the underbrush has not yet started changing.
Although I got a late, (for me), start, I was still the first car in the parking lot at 9 am. I only encountered 2 couples and one equestrian on the trails and that was on the way back. When I left at 1:30, there were 6 cars and 2 horse trailers at the trailhead.
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