8-17-14

Tate (my dog) and I went on a hike in the local state gameland today. My thought was to get a workout, have some time for mental reconstruction and just enjoy the day. The path we followed starts on an old railbed that is a vehicle route into the gameland for hunters during the season, but is closed too motor vehicles this time of year, then take a single track mountain bike trail to the site of an old gravity railway transfer station, head east to an impassable creek gorge, and then bushwack back to the car, uphill to test my cardio condition. I missed the turn onto the single track because the DNR apparently moved the roadkill depository that used to provide  a can't miss trail marker. No carcasses today, no stink and we walked right past, adding a mile to the walk. Then the brush at the creek gorge was so thick we deferred to a nearby power line cut and climbed out of the valley on that.  Probably an equal workout with less bushwacking, ticks and aggravation, if less natural. Made the climb out without having to stop as I did a couple of years ago, split a bottle of water with Tate at the top, he got a biscuit and I got something more interesting than usual to write about. 5 miles in 1 hr 45 minutes, a good sweat, the highlight of the  day.