9/10/2010 Forest Run Nature Preserve (Part 2)

I made another trip back to this nature preserve, which is within a mile of where we live.  There are some nice loop trails cut through the thick vegetation here.  I walked up on a coupl eof deer and surprised them when I came around a corner.  You might spot them in a couple of the photos I took.  i got my Butler County Metroparks sticker for the car, so I am good to go for parking at all of the parks here in Butler County for the rest of the year.

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9/6/2010 Forest Run Wildlife Preserve

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I checked out the Forest Run Wildlife Preserve, which is just around the corner from where we live.  It is an 82 acre preserve with a creek, woods, a small prairie, meadows, and a wetland area.  There is a neat observation deck that you can walk up to from a trail in the prairie area.  You can get some nice views of the surrounding area.

The address is 1810 New London Road, (Ross Township)Hamilton, OH  45013

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7/11/2010 Miami Whitewater Forest - Shaker Trace Trail

I had one more trail at Miami Whitewater Forest that I had not walked.  This is the outer loop of the Shaker Trace Trail, which is a paved trail that is just under 8 miles in length.  The entire trail is paved and gently graded with distances marked every .2 miles. There are some great views along the trail of restored wetlands and prairie, creeks and farmland. There were many different wildflowers in bloom.  Unfortunately, I only had my Blackberry camera, so I did not get great photos of the wildflowers.  There were quite a few bees that were interested in the flowers, so I kept my distance. 

I walked this loop trail counter-clockwise.  The sign said I should be able to walk this in 2.5 hours, and that is about what it took.  I am not in as good of shape as I was when I started to hike the Buckeye Trail a few years ago, so 8 miles was a good distance for me for now.

There was a Ranger “courtesy cart” that I saw go by once.  The cart patrols the trail with cold water for those that don't bring enough water.  Some of the bicyclists did not carry any water, which I thought was a little odd.  It is a short loop for a bike, but if I had a failure, I would want some water on a hot day like it was today.  My cycling shoes are not good walking shoes either.  There is water at the 1.9 and 6.1 mile markers, and I carried about 2.5 liters, which was plenty.  The heat managed to warm up a couple of the metal bottles, so I did stop for the colder water at the stops.

I saw a few people walking within the section of the trail that is part of the shorter 1.2 mile inner loop, but I was the only soul walking the longer outer loop.  I met a couple of horse riders who were riding the Shaker Trace Horse Trail, which intersects with the walking trail in a few spots.  We passed each other a number of times over 4 - 5 miles of the trail.  The horses have the right of way at all of the bridges, and I had to wait a couple of minutes at one bridge while one of the riders had to coax her horse across a short bridge that spans one of the creeks.

I prefer walking the wooded nature trails over paved trails, but there isn't a nature trail that is this long.  There is not a lot of shade on the Shaker Trace trail, and the sun warms up the pavement to add to the discomfort.   The best alternative is to walk the three short loop nature trails that are close together at Miami Whitewater.   These are the Badlands, Oakleaf, and the trail that used to be called the Parcours trail.  They have a new name for it, but I can't remember what it is.

A portion of the American Discovery Trail (which runs from Delaware to California) passes through the Shaker Trace Trail, however, I did not see any signs that marked any part of it.

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Olive Branch City Park, Olive Branch, Mississippi 6/9/2010

I have been getting out and doing some walking and short hikes, even though I have not been keeping this site up to date. I have been walking a lot of the same park trails that I have already discussed here, and I originally intended this blog for describing new trails and parks that I have discovered.

I have to balance a lot of things, and when my job takes me somewhere I have never been, I always try to find somewhere close that I can go for a walk, no matter how little time I have.

I found a nice city park in Olive Branch, Mississippi that goes by the easy to remember name of the Olive Branch City Park. The park features three small ponds(one has a pier), a complete paved walking trail that is two miles in length. This is a city park, so the trail winds around tennis courts, ball fields, etc. It also goes through some wooded areas and passes all of the ponds on the 135 acre park.

For more info, go to Olive Branch City Park.

It was a hot day, and I should have gotten up sooner, but I have been working from 8:00 PM until 2:30 AM in the area, so I don't wake up before the heat of the day grabs hold of everything. I just walked the two mile path one time, and I wish I had brought my good walking shoes, however, the $25.00 baggage check fee at the airport means that I pack less and do laundry more.

When I walked by the ball fields, I could not help but notice the familiar yellow drainage tubes used on the warning track. I read the label, and sure enough it was Poly-Drain from Baughman Tile Co., Inc., Paulding, Ohio. I have to put that in here since I was born in Paulding!

I apologize for not having a better camera. I had to settle for the Blackberry camera phone.

1/12/2010 Creekside Nature Park - Zionsville, IN

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped for a short walk at the Creekside Nature Park in Zionsville, Indiana.  It is located just south of Lions Park, across State Road 334.  The park had a path that leads to Eagle Creek, and a hiking trail that follows Eagle Creek and leads back to the parking lot.  It is not a very long path, but it was nice to be out for even a short walk.  This trail is not far from the Zionsville Rail Trail that I hiked last month.

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Zionsville Rail Trail 12/12/2009

I had a short day at work today, so I decided to get some walking in on a trail that I have never been on before.  When I Googled "Indiana trails", the top result is a website called http://www.indianatrails.org/  This is an excellent website with information on many trails here in Indiana.  It looks like there is a plan in place to interconnect various trails in the state, which will be great when done.  After a brief search of the website, I realized that the Zionsville Rail Trail is very close to the hotel I am staying at.

I have been working some long hours the last cople of months, and I have not been able to do any hiking or backpacking.  I am trying to stay in shape, but it is always a struggle where I jhave to set a side a block of time in my crazy schedule.

I drove to Starkey Park, which is a 77 acre park in Zionsville, Indiana that is named after Lucile Starkey who bequeathed a large section of the land to the Town in 1974 for use as a nature park.It is a very beautiful park with several connecting nature trails.

There are two separate trails with steep wooden stairs that lead down to Eagle Creek.  From here, it is a short distance to a massive boardwalk that has a long ascent to the rail trail.  The trail starts from here.  There is a nice picnic spot and view from the top of the old railroad bridge that overlooks Eagle Creek.  I took a few pictures of Eagle Creek over the top of the fence on the bridge before heading north on the trail.  I only had the Blackberry 8300 for taking pictures, so they are not as good as I normally take with a better camera.

The southern 1 mile of the rail-trail, is also called the Nancy Burton Trail.  It passes the small Nancy Burton park, which has a porta potty for those who are curious about where the restroom facilities are located.  The southern 1 mile of trail is covered with crushed limestone, which I happen to prefer over the paved trail any day.  It is very nice to walk on.  It also would not be difficult for bicycling unless it was a very wet day.   The southern part of the trail is up on a large embankment and passes through some beautiful woods.

The northern 2.5 miles of the Zionsville Rail Trail is paved, which I don't like as much as the dirt nature trails or even the crushed limestone, however this is a multi-use trail for bicycles, walkers, runners, etc.  I have had issues with plantar fasciitis in the past, which causes terrific heel pain. I now wear some good New Balance walking shoes with Powersteps arch supports, and have not had any problems for a few years now.

I have to admit I am one of those people that gets all tingly when I am on a trail.  I really love being outdoors.  It puts me in a zone, and is not only health exercise, it really helps the mind also.  When I have more time, I would like to explore this trail further north.

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