Awesome Weekend of Hiking and More!

After two full days of hiking, my legs are a bit sore and thankfully the hiking boots did not create any new blisters. The new sandals created plenty on Friday.

Friday
An early departure from work provide me time to catch up with folks in Bloomington and enjoy a nice dinner at Shanti Indian with JL and KK. Though spicy, the dinner was quite tasty. Afterwards, I enjoyed a nice walk and some Jiffy Treat on the east side of Bloomington.

Saturday - McCormick's Creek
Pauline and I enjoyed a wonderful day at McCormick's Creek. The rain held off and we completed about 5 miles. The day started with a 2 mile moderate hike to see Wolf Cave and the Twin Bridges. After a brief break for lunch, we continued on to complete another 3 miles of moderate hiking in the southern half of the park. It also included a climb up one of the few standing Fire Tower's throughout Indiana.

After the hike, it was time to try another international cuisine. We enjoyed dinner at Basil Leaf. I had a Vietnamese cuisine with a Thai Iced Tea both of which were delicious. The evening concluded somewhat nicely minus the constant interruptions about the weather happening north of Indy as we watched the first game of the Stanley Cup.

Sunday - Yellowwood State Forest
Have you been to Yellowwood, if not I definitely suggest a trip. The hike is more like backcountry hiking and animals are more abundant throughout the park. I saw geese and their little ones, a frog, turtle, deer, some sort of lizard, multiple chipmunks, and squirrels.

Today's hike lead me on two self-guided interpretive trails learning about the management of Yellowwood's natural resources and exploration of the various habitat types throughout the forest.

The journey started on the Resource Management Trail (1.5 miles/moderate), which I completed 2/3 of before continuing along the Lake Trail (5 miles/moderate). The Lake Trail led into the Jackson Creek Trail (1.5 miles/easy) and then back to the Lake Trail.

Two hours into the hike, it was time for some reading and lunch. I'm currently reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Additional report on the book will come later. Lunch was delicious. Since Subway and Jimmy Johns were not open at 9:30 am, I decided to try out Bloomington Bagel. I should have gotten two bagels because they are so delicious. I enjoyed a cinnamon sugar PB&J bagel sandwich.

Two hours later, it was time to hit the trails again. 1/2 an hour later, I ran into the Scarce O'Fat Trail (4 miles rugged). It was not time to head home and I need to get use to a lot of hiking before I hit Washington so off I went on the Scarce O'Fat Trail. The trail then ran into the High King Vista Trail (.5 mile moderate but 1/4 steep). Thankfully, the 1/4 steep hill was downhill from the direction which I came. Then there was still another 35 mins to hike along the Lake Trail to get back to the car.

To say the least, I was worn out when I got to the car and feeling a little stiffness in the right calf.

The weekend is now over and I will post some pictures soon for you too see of the weekend hikes.