A Little Variety

This post will be a little bit of this and that.  I know you are probably getting tired of my deer posts, but that's pretty much what I like.  

This is one of my favorite pictures!  This was taken in our backyard.  I love seeing the antlers on this guy!!  I only wish the bird feeders weren't in the shot!

 

This next picture was taken at one of our local parks inside their barn where they hold various activities year round.  I just love this Christmas tree!

Back on the trail for two photos that are NOT deer, however you may not like the last picture.

This last picture I hesitated to post.  I don't like to see dead animals, but it does give you a chance to see his pretty fur.  I'm sorry if it upsets anyone who sees it, it isn't too gory.  I'm guessing someone's dog might have caught it and brought it back to it's owner who was hiking the trail.  It was gone the next day.  Goofy me, said a little prayer for it, hoping it didn't suffer too much.

Deer at the Picnic Shelter.

I'm a bit behind in my blog.  I'm still using the old computer for my pictures because I like the program on the old computer.  So, the process to get the pictures on the blog takes some time.  These pictures are from a week or so ago.  I still hike 5 days a week rain, snow, shine, or as most people in Cincinnati know just plain gray cloudy winter days.  Many people are affected by the lack of sun, and I am one of those people.  The gray days just give me the blahs.  When the sun comes out, I can tell a big difference in my mood.  I'm glad though that I recognize why I am in such a crappy mood.

Most days I see a deer or two on my trails, but this particular day the deer were out in the open near a shelter I drive by to get to my trail.

I hope I don't bore everyone with my deer pictures, but I love these animals.  They're so quiet and peaceful.

There are 4 deer in this picture.

I've noticed most of the people who hike this particular trail usually have a dog or two with them.  A lot of the dogs are big dogs, so I think their owners let them off leash while on the trail.  I sure hope they leave the deer alone and let them live in peace.  But you know how people are....

Hiking After the Rains

I must confess, this blog post was written a few weeks ago and I forgot to post it.  I just discovered it sitting in my "draft" files.  So, here is my post....a little late.

We experienced a lot, and I mean A LOT of rain over a 24 hour period recently.  I figured the trail would be muddy, but I didn't think it would be as bad as it was.

The rain came down in such torrents, the force of the rain really left the trail a mess.  There were ditches filled with rocks, stones, and sand.  It really tore up the trail itself.  Luckily, I didn't take my dog Finn with me.  It was difficult to walk without twisting knees, ankles etc.  So I took my time.

I took a few pictures of the trail, but the depth of what the rains left behind didn't really show up well in the pictures.  Believe me it was, and still is a very torn up trail.

I finally made it through the bad stuff down to the bottom of the first hill, and this is what I found.

At the bottom of this hill, you can see a sign indicating "long trail" and "short trail".  I usually do the long trail, up that muddy hill beside the steps.  I don't use the steps because they break my stride.  I'd rather climb up the hill itself.  The long trail circles around and comes down a hill on the right of this picture.  Then I cross over to the short trail and go up the short trail hill until it circles around to where I started. 

Here is a close up of the same area...it will be awhile before it will dry up, I'm sure.

I turned around at this point, I didn't feel like swimming. Walked back up the hill, through the torn up portion of the trail and headed down and around the backend of the "short trail" until I was stopped again by water.

It was kind of nice walking through all that...no one else was on the trail. Of course, I had to turn around again and retrace my steps again back to the entrance of the trail.   Here are a few more pictures of the high water.

This next picture shows the lake in the background.  I sometimes see a Great Blue Heron flying low over the water.  So pretty to see...unfortunately, I'm never quick enough to get a photo.