Rainy Hike

I dithered before going -- was it going to rain or not? Trav said not for a while, so I went. I took Eddie and an old bright orange rain poncho. I parked low and went up the craggy hill to the top, then headed west. The sprinkling turned into a light shower right after I started and I thought it was enjoyable. It showered off and on throughout our hike.

When it showered heavier I had to be careful on the rocks, and even then I slipped a few times. I was very thankful I had my trekking pole with me, as I do believe it saved a fall once. I kept debating whether or not to put on the LOOKATME orange poncho. I couldn't bear the thought of creating my own personal sauna. Even though the weather was coolish, about 70, wearing plastic definitely makes me hot. I was relieved it wasn't raining just a little harder, and relieved that I had it with me just in case. For the most part the canopy protected us.

Today I particularly noticed a certain wildflower, the purple cuppish one. It grows on one tall stalk, like an iris, and has one, two or three flowers on top and sometimes some more buds waiting to bloom. They dotted the trails, all the trails, and a few grew in the open meadowy areas, but mostly they were in the shade here and there. I've decided to find out what they are and put some in the future turtle compound.

This pic is from last summer. I'll have to take one which shows the pretty stalk UPDATE 6-4-08: Thanks again to Cranky Lady for telling me these are spiderworts!
There also seemed to be an abundance of the yellow flowers. They grew mostly in the open meadowy areas, but they dotted the shady trail areas, too. The overcast sky made the yellow petals especially bright and sharp--really pretty. I want some of those in the compound also.

Pic is from last summer
We headed to the raccoon carcass and saw that it's beginning to fall apart now. Past the raccoon carcass a ways I intended to take a cut through to the right and bypass the ravine area, but the overgrowth of poison ivy, just since I was last there, made that impossible for me. There were times I felt like I was maneuvering through security laser lights just getting down the trail. Long tendrils reached out while I tried to remain centered. I believe I was successful, but 72 hrs will tell. I may not take that trail again until late fall.

We finally made it to the old rocky road and looped around on the Fairy Dust. Instead of veering left and crossing at the apple-snacking boulder we went straight and came up the back way to the washing machine. We finished by cutting in front of the 3 lakes, then back out. As we passed the tree from which the deer skull once hung Eddie stopped, looked up, reached up, then continued. He's amazing.

As we started the descent from the upper the rain really picked up. By this point my hair and backpack were wet, glasses fogged, and with about 12 minutes left in the hike I had to put on the dreaded poncho. There were 4 other cars left in the lot, no one was in them, and I slipped off the poncho before being seen by anyone, I believe.

Total hike was 1 hr 45 min.