Mother's Day Ride~

Or - Shenandoah to Ikes on the Wabash ~

It was a gorgeous, if windy day.  We sat out with our latte's admiring the emerging greens of our now - full-on spring!  Most of the plants I've been getting in the ground have recovered from the last freeze, but we're expecting another tonight.

At Waubonsie Park, Shenandoah~

My goal has been to ride my bike, the entire 62.3-mile length of the Wabash Trace trail, in stages.  Today, Butch drove us back to Shenandoah, where we found the signage directing us from the depot trail-head I'd ridden to last week, over to the one at Waubonsie Park.

First Bridge~

We'd hoped the wind would be a little less, further south, but no luck. There were only a few people with metal detectors in the park when we arrived.

Looking down from the bridge~

The drop off most of the bridges is usually a long one.  Erosion has taken a toll in the soft sandy loams of the Loess Hills area.  The hills were formed over 14,000 years ago.  Only two places on earth, here & China have a depth of 200 to 300 ft.

Raspberry canes?

If these are indeed Raspberry, we'll be back before too long!  :-) I've never seen this many in one place.

Old telephone/telegraph pole~

The pole above is only the second I've seen - still boasting a couple of glass insulators.

Hole in the trail~

This was one deep hole!  There were concrete blocks lower down, on the side of the trail, there must have been an old bridge or structure here at one time.

Sign for "Ikes"~

The goal for the day was to find Ikes Place, the former Izaak Walton, just south of Shenandoah.  We had just crossed under Hwy 2 when we saw the sign.

A swing~

We rode another mile farther, I wanted to be sure it was indeed the place marked on the trail.  At the next road crossing was a small vineyard.  Here, we turned back, as we'd made reservations for dinner at Tobey Jacks.

The lake at Ikes~

Peddling back into the wind was a cold experience.  I think I'll be looking for a light weight windbreaker.  Butch tells me he's not feeling a bit more fit, but set a good pace going back!  Probably  because he was hungry! 

Butch in the lead~

This section of trail is one of the easiest I've been on so far.  A bit rough in places, but really pretty.

At Tobey Jacks, Cathy found me a trail map, very handy!  I have another 7.5-miles to Coin & 5.4 to Blanchard to be done!  Since it's a good drive down to this area from home - I'm hoping Butch will take me on a weekend & drop me off at Ike's.  Then, he would go on to park at Blanchard & ride north to meet me.

It's been fun to get a feel for the old trail.  There's not an inch of it that couldn't be done on horseback...  The trail brochure I received was updated in 2018.

Item #6:  Horseback Riding. An off-road trail for mt. bikes and equestrians runs parallel to the main trail in the section between Council Bluffs and Dumfries. Horses are allowed only on the off-route trail and at the discretion of SWINT.

The trail goes to the small destination of Margaritaville, before heading on south.  It was our turn-around point when Farah & I were on the trail.  We never left any sign of having been there.  When Butch & I attended a SWINT meeting - it's safe to say we were NOT welcomed, or invited to return.

Evidentially, since I've ridden - someone decided Equestrian's could not go to the bike hangout...  Maybe why Butch & I found trash cans chained to the hitching rail.  (It's a little hard to disguise a steel tube hitching post.)

Yet another way to continue to reduce & eliminate horses from the trail.  I'm sure the original funding for the trail included Equestrian use.  Especially since Equestrian groups donated volunteer hours & funds.  The remains of that trail still exist in many places...