Along the Trail~

Now is the time of year my yard work expands. Rain is forecast for Friday & I hope the weatherman is right.  Two inches of rain, does not make up for months of drought.  I've been watering the newest plant starts Clara gave me.  At the same time, with such beautiful weather, I want to ride!  A ride won today!

Fields being worked~

Most of the surrounding fields are now being cultivated for the spring planting.  The rains we received have helped so much with the dust - except on the gravel roads.  Today, I couldn't decide if I'd go to Malvern, stop & turn back at the Trestle, or the Hwy 34 underpass.

Smokey on the Silver Creek Trestle~

When I reached the trestle, it was just such a beautiful day.  I reminded myself days like these are few & can be far between - so I continued on.

Entering the park from the trail~

I didn't go to the Depot, but turned in at the park entrance.  I love the way the new sidewalk has gentle curves & adds to the landscape. After a call to Butch, I turned back.

Garden Phlox~

I made several stops to admire the flowers blooming along side the trail.  I do miss my rides further south, when Butch was here to pick me up after a one-way ride.  Down near Coin, the Phlox blooms in profussion!  We're not quite into the season yet - so I hope to see more as we move into May.

Virginia Waterleaf ~

Our daughter asked me about the Waterleaf last week, so I took this photo of it.  It's one of the first natives to emerge & covers the ground with it's pretty green leaves splotched with white.  Before much longer it will grown taller & bloom.  

Back at Silver City, I stopped to chat with Mari Jo before heading home.  It's so nice to have Happy Trails open again!  I was tempted to have an ice cream.  But  Kathy & I had enjoyed ice cream sunday's at C&M's Cafe yesterday, so I refrained!  I'm going to miss these plesant April days!

Greening Up!

 We're seeing our usual string of stunning April spring days!  No wind, tempertures in the mid-60's, sunshine with broken white fluffy clouds!

Large tree blown down~

It had been two-weeks since I'd ridden & I was feeling the work in no time.  Even so - with the days as mild as they now are & no wind - I had no excuse.  Seeing all the large trees that had blown down with the last storm, was sad.  All had been cleared from the trail, which must have been impassable until the work was done.

Wild Plum in bloom~

I could smell the plums before I saw them!  The air was so sweet!  I was determined to build on my fitness & go the entire way to Malvern.  I love riding on the days that are mid-60's & with intermittent cloud cover.  The light takes on a grayish cast, making the greens seem stronger.

Silver Creek from the trestle~

I met Mari Jo just before the Trestle.  She was returning from her ride & had left earlier than I could make it out.  The view from the trestle never gets old & at about half-way, is a nice place to stop.  Continuing on past, it wasn't long before I was crossing 350th.  I knew if the Dutchman's Breeches were blooming - I was in the area where I've found them before.

Dutchman's Breeches~

Sure enough - I wasn't dissapointed!  There weren't as many in bloom as I'd seen last year, maybe due to the unduly dry year.  They are so amazingly delicate - in what can be a very harsh enviroment.

Quick Recovery~

It was a wonderful surprise to see the burn area by Key's road so green!  In just the two-weeks since I'd been here - all that was blackened by the fire - had morphed into bright green!  (Except for the poor trees.)  The frogs were croking in a symphony of sound.  A pair of Canadian Geese were on the water of the wetland.  It had been replenished somewhat by the rain.

Just past Key's Road~

To the far left of the trail, dirt work is well under way for the new housing development.  All those houses will make a big change in an area that up until now was surrounded by fields.

The Malvern Park pond~

The pond too, had risen just a little with the 5" of rain & terrible hail storm Malvern had received.  The 3" diameter hail had plummeted the town for almost 45-minutes!  It went right through the roofs of many of the businesses on main street.  

This included Little Red's Service where Butch's truck had been in for repairs.  Donnie had called us with the news.  He'd raced to move as many vehicles as possible under cover, but in the process the hood of Butch's F-150 had been badly dented.  I'm sure our local insurance agent has been working over time to handle all the claims.

Creek Crossing~

The creek looked so beautiful with the shore turning green again.  It was late in the afternoon by the time I was returning to Silver City.  I'd made more than my share of stops along the way to appreciate the day & the quiet.  I'd made the trip, but have a ways to go to do it with a semblance of ease!

I'll Call it Spring?

 Strange weather has been the byword for months now.  A year so abnormally dry, when I cleaned the last of the flower beds behind the Cabin last Saturday, the dust was flying.  But - the Rain came!  Our total by the afternoon of Saturday the 15th, was just under 2".   

4-11-2023 - Daffodils~

What a difference it made!  Our front lawn, that Butch had mowed & fertalized while he was home - greened up overnight!  My hostas broke ground & tulips grew at least an inch!

4-18-2023 Nika's tree~

As Nika's tree began to bloom, I was sad.  This is the first spring without Nika being here with us~  

4-12-2021 Nika & her new little tree~

After a huge mess, torn up lawn & another fence panel destroyed, the piles of wood from the Mulberry tree are finally gone!  The east fence looked so bare, after years of viewing the piles of wood.  I'd even put a "free wood" ad on the local Facebook page & didn't receive one response. 

 Taking down the huge old tree, was one of the first things we did after moving in.  It was leaning toward the neighbor's house, hollow down the center & we didn't want it falling either direction.  I thought I'd "do something" with the wood, but that just didn't happen.  

4-7-2023 New Emerald Green trees on the east fence~

My timing was perfect, since Home Depot had just received their spring shipment of potted Emerald Greens.  It will take them a while, but eventually they'll provide something of a privacy screen.  The cost to have the fence repaired is almost double what it was a year ago, after the neighbor damaged it. (He did cover the cost.)

Tulips!

I haven't seen all the rabbits we had last year & thankfully the tulip blooms were not chewed off!  Maybe the fox that's been coming by had something to do with it?   I've used my repellant granuals liberally - just in case!

4-20-2023 The woods ~

The woods are returning to life!  Flowers undermined by the moles last season, are breaking ground.  The phlox starts Clara gave me have doubled in size, as have the bleeding hearts!  All the peonies too - have grown.  Now!  If the record low forecast for tonight doesn't burn everything - I'll hope to see more blooms soon!

Malvern or Bust!

 We received a welcome .28 of rain last night, then woke to sunshine & less wind today.  After reading  the trail was dry - I decided to ride.  My goal was Malvern - for the first time this season.

Leaving Silver City~

It's always nice to enjoy the wide-open views.  Soon the fields will be showing the tinge of green I look forward to each spring.  Spring seems to have been so delayed this season.  The ceaseless winds have not contributed to the spring feel! 

Creek crossing~

Having the break from them today was great, but I found the trail very sticky!  Not what I'd hoped for - especially for my first longer ride on the limestone.

Picnic Shelter?

After seeing the nice new structures & picnic tables up at Margeritaville, the poor old, broken down, covered table south of Silver City looked very shabby.  I have no idea how improvements are funded, but I suspect it may be private donations.  The north end of the trail, in Council Bluffs gets much more use than further south & away from the larger city.  I hope to attend the next trail meeting in May.

Turkey's~

Up ahead to dark spots on the trail - drew my attention.  I stopped to try to zoom in & reconized two hen turkeys.  A third was off to the side, still in the brush. Turkey's were re-introduced to the state for hunting.

Beginning of where the fire started~

Over the weekend, both Iowa & Nebraska had several fires burning.  The news reported a fire was in the Malvern area at the intersection of the trail & Keys Road.  I reconized right away this was the area just across from where dirtwork has begun for the new housing development.

Everything around the wetland - burned~

When I arrived in the area, the burn area was even larger than I'd imagined.  It covered both sides of the trail & included the area around the wetland.  What water was there, looked almost silvery against the backdrop of stark black burn.  I rode on to the Depot, before turning back to take my break at the park.

The Pond~

The small pond was even lower than one of my visits late last year.  We just haven't had the rainfall - or snow for that matter - to add to the water volumn.  The Canadian Geese were still in residence.  The six babies had grown over the winter months.  They looked cute swimming all together away from their parents.

Where the fire was stopped~

From the park's north parking area, it was easy to see how close the fire had come to the park.  At least the fire will give the native plants in the area a chance to regrow before being crowded out by invasives.  I doubt the trees that were badly burned will recover & we'll miss the shade they provided.

Northern edge of the fire's path ~

As I left to return to Silver City, I could see how close the fire had come to a large dry pile of slash.  If it had reached across the tiny trickle of water in the small creek & ignited that pile - I'm sure the park would have been next!  More rain is badly needed & forecast to arrive over the weekend - fingers crossed!

The wind picked up as I rode north.  It was far from my fastest ride, but I felt good to have accomplished the distance. 

Mineola to Dumfries~

 I've been working to increase my distance again this season, on the limestone.  Today I decided to do the more difficult section north from Mineola & see how I would do on the uphill grade.  

At the trailhead~

The day was moderate, in the 50's without too much wind.  I hadn't ridden this portion of the trail since March 16th of last year.

Keg Creek

The creek still has a decent amount of flow, but remains much lower than normal.  I wasn't in any hurry & had hoped to keep on peddling the entire four-miles.  That goal wasn't met!  I ended up stopping three times! 

Badly rutted trail~

I can't get over the damage this year, to the trail surface.  It looked like cars have been driven on it!  I doubt a car, but certainly a large, heavier 4-wheel of somekind.  Some new gravel had been put down in spots - filling in some of the ruts.  If I tried riding there I'd find the gravel as my tires sunk in.

Trail Damage

It's just sickening the lack of regard people have for trail rules.  There were even footprints sunk deep for quite a distance.  Once the surface dries out - they stay - until we get at least one or two good rains.  (Rain has been non-existent for the last several months...)  The footprints meandered from one side of the trail to the other - so there was no avoiding them...  It was tiring to constantly watch where I was riding, to miss those I could.  (So much for horses damaging the trail!)

Underpass at Dumfries~

I passed Margeritaville on my way north & went on to the Dumfries underpass.  That gives me a full four-miles each way.  By the time I arrived, the worst of the grade was behind me & I felt like I could have gone on to Council Bluffs.  I really didn't have the time though - that will wait for another day.  I turned back, happy the difficult part was over.

Return to Margeritaville~

There were quite a few people out enjoying the trail & one family having lunch.  Only one rider with his music blaring as he passed me going the other direction.  Ear buds anyone?

View from Margeritaville ~

Several new picnic tables have been added.  I sat on one of those - off to the side with a nice view - for my snack.

New structure ~

Just past the main area, was this cute structure.  Recently unloaded from a trailer I'm sure.  There's probably some work yet to do, to level it up.  This area seems to benefit from lots of improvements every season. 

Almost back to Mineola~

The return south - was as usual - much faster than going north!  I didn't go as fast as I have in the past, the trail was just too rutted & rough.  It did feel good to have accomplished the ride though.  I'll come back again to see if I can improve my time back to what it was last year.  

Adding Miles ~

 With all the wind we've had, Mari Jo said the trail was perfectly dry.  We were both anxious to get out for a ride.  Today was the day, sunshine & temperatures climbing into the mid-70's.  It's too dry to have any humidity yet.  Too dry to be spring.

No, we're not going to jail! 

It seems to take forever to get back in shape each spring.  The winds have been pretty much non-stop for weeks now.  Today we were to have up to 20 mph gusts, but the wind was at our backs when we left.

Bridge over one of the small creeks~

We've had haze too, the winds coming from the south, send us the smoke from controlled burns in Kansas.  The haze was just thick enough to filter the sunshine.

Mari Jo on the bridge~

We stopped a few times on our way, not really in any hurry & we hadn't decided how far we'd ride - yet!  When we reached the Trestle, another couple rode up from the south.  They had questions regarding new tires for one of their bikes.  Mari Jo checked out the tires & discovered they had been installed backward.  Who knew - tires could be installed with the tread going the wrong direction?  I certainly didn't!  But when Mari Jo explained & showed us all the difference it became obvious.

On the Trestle, Silver Creek~

By the time we left, the wind had picked up.  We decided to ride on to the Hwy 34 underpass & turn back there.  We'd get in a 12-mile round-trip.

Our Turn-around, just past the Hwy 34 underpass ~

I kept thinking - only two more miles to Malvern, but common sense prevailed.  We'd been hit by a couple good wind gusts & would be riding back north - into it...

Mr. garter snake~

After we'd crossed the road, I looked down to see Mr. snake sunning himself along the side of the trail.  He was very lethargic, so posed long enough for me to get his picture.  

As we returned to the Trestle, two other riders came up who Mari Jo knew.  This meeting resulted in another somewhat lengthy conversation.  One of the riders asked me how I liked my "electric bike"?!  I told him it was Not electric!  This is at least the third time people have mistaken our bikes for electric.  I will have to ask next time, what about the bike makes them think it's electric?  They asked if I would ride one?  My reply is always the same - not until I HAVE to!  :-)  I hope that will be a long time off!

Happy Trails will open for the season April 12th.  I'll lose my riding partner, except on Monday's when the shop is closed.  I think it will be a busy season.