November 6: Election Day Hike at Lost Valley

Election Day 2012 found me off of school, a little sore from the root canal of my front tooth the afternoon before, and ready to hike. It was about 46 degrees, overcast and a little rainy at times. Perfect for a fall hike that would take my mind off of my dental woes and the outcome of the election--which, by the way, went the way Paul and I were hoping. We took our coffee to the polls that morning and voted at 6 a.m.. Then he went off to work--and I went hiking after cleaning since FZW was a polling place and we had no school.

After traversing the first leg of the trail, I decided, what the hell--I'll do the whole eleven miles. It's mostly flat and the second part through the woods is the most interesting. I didn't even see a soul until about 1 (I started at 10:30 a.m.).  Then, just a few bicyclists, either alone or in pairs.I saw three deer--one that ran a small way into the woods and then silently watched me from the cover of trees.

Most of the leaves on the trees in areas away from the city have lost their color, but I enjoyed hiking through light rain and watching the last leaves fall peacefully on the trail. Realized I hadn't hiked this trail since June--and I didn't discover it until the end of November last year, so I don't know what it looks like when the leaves are changing.

A remnant of the TNT days, no doubt. Some kind of fence post/farm implement. There was a line of these just to the right of the trail.

The Dunlap Cemetery comes up on your right if you are hiking the Lost Valley right to left, I guess I"d call it.  You can't see it once the foliage gets thick, but by now, it's easy to locate and to hike over to.  Eerie but then again, an old friend in away. Gave me my second wind as I snapped photos of long forgotten headstones.