A Trail with Obstacles and Heat!

Another humid sweltering day in Ohio.  Our hiking plans for today were to try and go around twice on the Kingfisher Trail in Winton Woods.  Twice around was our normal routine back before I had knee surgery.  Since my surgery was so successful and I am without pain, I'm hoping we will eventually be able to go even longer than twice around.

We started out before 9 am this morning hoping to beat the heat and hopefully not run into many people.  We could hear noise in the distance as though someone was working in the area.  Sure enough, a crew was working on the lower portion of the trail.  Unfortunately, they were pretty much blocking the trail.  Not only do I have a new knee, but I'm just naturally a klutz, so I always feel I need to watch where I'm going, and have plenty of space to get my big feet through small spaces.  Here is what we needed to pass.

As you can see they didn't leave much space for people to get by.  Finn decided to hop over the rails and go down the hill.  Then, of course, he couldn't quite hop back up and over the rails.  I had to brace myself, bend down, reach over and heist his fat little body back on the trail.  Thank goodness, I kept my klutziness in check.

We continued on and headed for the steps to move to the top portion of the trail.  Another partial blockage greeted us.

They could have pulled their vehicle a little more to the right as there is a level path that runs through.  No, they don't want to make it too easy for hikers.  We got by, and continued on up the hill to the upper portion of the trail.  I didn't want to go back down to the lower portion so I decided we'd stay up top.  When we finally got to the top, my plan was to do the top portion 3 times.  Walk to the end, then go back and forth on the top portion 2 more times.  However, Finn was starting to pant pretty much, so we did a shortened version of the last 2 times.  Since he wears a "winter" coat all the time, I knew he had to be hot.  He will get a haircut later today.  Here is a short video of Finn.

I've also been busy doing some crocheting.  A few scarves for Christmas gifts this year.  Some of the colors do not show up very well.  The scarf on the far left is a soft lilac color.  The second from the right is gray.  I love the little purses I found to match.

Hiking Buddies Once Again!

I decided to take Finn along with me today on my hike.  He had ACL surgery back in November 2015.  Since my knee was bothering me so much after he healed I didn't go hiking any more until after my surgery.  I knew he would be all excited about going hiking again after such a long time, I was a bit afraid he would pull me down the hills.  I don't mind when he pulls me up hills, that actually helps.  I was very surprised he took it easy going down hills today.  I've also forgotten how often he likes to stop and sniff everything too!

It was a very hot and humid day today, but we started our hike at 8:30 am.  It wasn't too bad, and best of all we had the whole trail to ourselves...that's always nice.

My first attempt at the upper portion of the trail.  The steps going up, followed by a long uphill trek.

We didn't see much wildlife, but did hear lots of birds. 

Just a few pictures of simple flowers and a web.  Nothing spectacular, I guess we've missed a lot of the early summer blooms. 

 

 

Before I know it, it will be fall and all the leaves will be turning.  I'm not too bummed about it though, I really didn't expect to be back on the trails at all this summer.  This surgery has surprised me in many ways.  My recovery has been much quicker than I expected.  The only pain I felt today, was in what I used to call my "good" knee. It's not near as bad as the other knee was, so I'm hoping I can put off surgery on my "good" knee for as long as possible, possibly forever. 

Tomorrow will be my last session of outpatient therapy!  Yay!  It will be good to have my days back where I can plan or not plan what I want to do.  The therapists, Katie and Linas were wonderful to work with though, and I appreciate all they've done for me and to me!!

Back Out on the Trail Again

Decided to go out and get some fresh air yesterday, so I headed to one of our county parks.  Farbach Warner is a small park with a short (.6 mile) trail that is mostly paved but has a short portion that goes into the woods.  You can bypass the wooded portion, but I decided to see if I could manage on my new knee.  Here is the downhill I had to navigate.  I didn't have any problems at all.

A little bridge and then up the hill.

Back up and along the paved trail I saw a few interesting trees.  This first one is one that toppled over,and I thought it was pretty interesting looking.

I love the twists and turns of this tree from it's roots up to it's branches.

And, of course, I'm always on the lookout for critters.  I took a picture of a bluebird, which I don't get to see very often, but it was taken at a distance and not very clear.  I wanted to share it, but the quality was not good.

I love these squirrel pictures.  I love the expression on the squirrel's face as he peeked out at me.

If I had hiked this trail last year, I wouldn't have even walked out of my way to take pictures of these flowers.  My knee would have been hurting so bad, all I would have wanted to do was get to my car and sit down.  This year, I stopped to smell the flowers and take pictures of them too!  I felt I could have walked all day...but didn't...too early in the healing process yet.

I went to the surgeon today and had another checkup.  All is good and I go back again in 6 weeks.  Also, had physical therapy....7 sessions down, 5 to go!

Look at my knee now!!  I can even cross my legs again!