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.