10 of us from the Mountaineers met this morning to enjoy a dry, crisp winter day with 19 bird species including a pair of bald eagles, common mergansers and goldeneyes, double crested cormorants, and a pileated woodpecker along with plenty of evidence of excavation. Discover Pass is required. Portapotty was stocked with TP and fairly clean.
St. Edward State Park is the perfect place near city to stretch the legs, get some mileage and get away from people if your goal is rehab or rebuilding. Several of our members were nursing various injuries and everyone did great. The north trail (we started heading down it) is in fantastic shape. The south trail (which we went up) has more mud and some steep rooted areas to navigate (see picture).I pointed out pileated excavations and we only had to step across one blow-down on the NE loop. It's marked with yellow caution tape but could be a surprise to mountain bikers. (Photo)
Our adventure began just after 8. 6 of our party returned to the cars for other commitments while four of us continued with an extra mile to the NE corner (by the school), ending up with 3.75 miles on the morning, returning to the cars around 10:30. We had about a 2 MPH average moving time.
We enjoyed blue sky, calling birds, beautiful trees especially cavernous hollows I have pointed out before on "hikes with kids". This was supposed to be a hike with my dog, but at the last second we deemed it edgy enough for him (recovering from chest surgery) to wait until he gets his sutures out. Probably a wise decision. Can't wait to do this again when he's feeling better.
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