John Dean Park 37/15 weeks

A quick snap under the canopy of the trees. 

Our plans included a two hour paddle in Brentwood Bay waters. The following pictures illustrate the weather that awaited us. Our meeting place for pre-paddle coffee was the Seahorse cafe so we just lingered over a light lunch and good conversation.

These kayaks dont look like there is much between you and the water on such a drizzly day.

Visibility-0

We chose the indoor seating today.

After coffee we decide to hike the lookout portion of John Dean park. It is heavily treed which provides a bit of protection from the rain. Bernie, Marlen and Alisa piled into the van with us and we headed up the peninsula for the park. This makes our third visit to John Dean park; we already hiked to the summit and to Pickles Bluff on weeks 5 and 30. Im sure we will visit again because on this hike we didn't even make it to the lookout.

We started down the Valley Mist trail and then never again saw that name in print on any of the maps. Once we were on the trail it became anybody's guess as to which one we were following. With a bit of deduction and a few readings of the sun we found a portion of the trail illustrated on the map with a circle back to the parking lot. None of us seemed enthused about hiking deeper in without a clearer map reading. There are portions of this park that lead off the park itself and are picked up with community trails. It would be fun to explore these but I would prefer to be better prepared for a long trek.

This led to the timeless discussion about whether or not it made a sound when it fell...depending on someone being there to hear it.

I had to use the telephoto lens. Not only was this mushroom enormous it was over twenty feet up.

Mother log

This tree was covered with smaller mushrooms and Mark and Alisa try to determine if they are indeed medicinal reishi.
The jury is still out.

All in all I feel that we were a bit light on the hike this week but Im happy that we were joined by our friends. Given the choice I wouldn't have traded our relaxing cafe time for more time on trail in the rain. One of the nice effects of hiking every week for a year is getting to the 37th week with increased endurance. My body feels very different after a hike now than when I first started this comittment at the beginning of the year. Back then I couldnt wait to get back to the car and now I am much more likely to want to venture further and explore new secondary trails.
For next weeks hike we thought we were going to be away so we havent planned anything further than a Saturday afternoon visit to  Heritage Acres for the Harvest Fair and threshing weekend. I have learned that a very gracious lady in the care home where I work was once a teacher in the one room schoolhouse that is now part of Heritage Acres museum. I am excited, in a history buff sort of way, to see a window into her time.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate for a vigorous hike on Sunday. Pickles Bluff may be on the shortlist.

Im lucky to have such a steady hiking companion. Mark has never once  tried to talk me out of my 52week commitment and has been an avid supporter of both my intention and my blog. Thanks Marky. You too Mowgli.