Thursday Hikers

It was raining, but 8 of us decided to go hiking anyway. We opted for the shorter Cold River Loop instead of some longer trails. It was beautiful; rain and mist add a lot of beauty in the woods. Savoy Mountain State Forest is a 10,000 acre preserve, so there’s lots and lots of hiking left to do up there. A kayacking trip on the 40 acre Bog Lake is in the plans. Apple season this year was incredibly productive and we found plenty of apple snacks in abandoned orchards . Great fun happened when we found an odd piece of wood that really looked like an alligator head. So we found it a bark body and tail, and posed them in a big puddle. There was much nonsense and fun in the making of it. The bog, once a floating bog, has attached to the lake bottom. It’s mysterious, but there’s no way to get out to it except by canoe or kayack. And then! A prehistoric alligator skeleton surfaced, and then! a fossilized ostrich relic almost tripped us up as we were making a stream crossing. The loop took us back to our cars in the camping grounds parking lot. We got our lunches and carried them to a wonderful cabin built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) sometime in the 1930’s or 1940’s. We ate on the porch, out of the rain, overlooking a steep and beautiful drop down to the lake. Peanut butter and jelly was the sandwich of the day, but there were also 2 chicken sandwiches and 2 cheese with mustard. Lissa had made an applesauce cake with various wild apples. Had we had some hot tea it would have been absolutely perfect. As it was, it was perfect all by itself. Poor Sukee! The only dog hiking today. She’ll be happy when Baxter and Annie are back on the trails. P.S. I’ve mentioned 2 alligators. If you feel like having a closer look, you just might see 2 more. Thank heaven for Ellie’s waterproof hiking boots and Hello to Ginni from all the hikers. Love, Penny