Outside this morning

I had a five mile hike this morning with my new hiking group.  These are women of all ages but they are not speed hikers...just want to be out in nature like me.   However, this hike on a section of the Palmetto Trail (we are trying to hike the whole trail...over 500 miles of it...a section at a time!).  Anyway, the trail today was mostly road walking with very little dirt!  

A big giant puddle at the parking area made a great reflection.  Then we walked down the dirt/gravel road to meet the paved road.  The remainder of the walk was on the paved road with a crossing over the interstate highway.  The clear cut area was logged for the pines and will probably be replanted.   Much of this area is pine trees for wood production into plywood, boards and other things.   The cars that passed us were really good about moving over and not making us get in the ditch...which was full of water from the rain.    We ended up at the place where we finished the first hike I did with this group.      

Several of us had the same hiking boots on so I had to take a photo.  Several are going to be buying these same boots because we kept telling them how comfortable they are!

It was about 32F when we started but the warm sun had my walking partner, Jan, and I both coming out of our puffy coat.  I had a vest on over my sweater and it was perfectly comfortable in the cool air.   Jan and I had lunch together after the hike.   She has recently retired and wants to do more hiking so we plan to meet up some during the week as we get into spring weather.   

A good day outside even if it was on pavement!