Another day outside

A couple of weeks ago Jerry showed me some photos of flowers that he found along the river where he was doing some work with his tractor for a friend who needed to be able to access the property on his ATV and could not.   So today we went up to the river so I could get my own photos of the flowers if they were still there.  

We parked the truck and started walking and immediately came to a big muddy mess in the trail..so we moved off trail and walked in the woods..over trees, in weeds up to my knees..I am in shorts and hiking boots..I pulled my socks up as far as I could on my legs!   After a bit we were able to get back on the trail/road for a short while.   We had zigged closer to the river so I wandered over to get a photo through a break in the trees.   Wrong move...I startled a black snake about five feet long..as tall as I am!  It went the other way from me and forget about my photo of the river.   I hope it was a black snake and not a black water mocassin!  

We zigged and zagged for about a mile and a half in the woods and finally came out to a fairly decent old road bed that ran along the railroad tracks.   Jerry was probably ready to turn around but he told me the trestle for the train tracks was just a little ways further and the big creek ran under the trestle to the river.     So I said I wanted to see it!!   

So we walked again and ended up at about two and half miles of walking when we got to the trestle.  The creek was really pretty there and made the hike worth it for me.   

We decided to walk back along the railroad tracks so this collage is of that walk..two and half miles back to the truck.   The track was full of big rocks between the railroad ties so it was not an easy thing to do. I finally figured out how to shorten my stride so that each step was on the wood instead of the rocks!     

A total of five miles today..and as it was about 2pm when we finished it was getting really hot.   I hate that we are going into our summer season here as I don't like to be hot..my old body just can't handle heat and humidity anymore.     Later this week we are expecting temps in the high 80sF (26C)  which will keep me in the house after it gets that hot!  
Walking will be very limited to early morning and late afternoons after the sun goes behind the trees.

A photo of the lily we found in the extras.