Hikes with Dogs and Miscellany

We always take the dogs on our hikes.

Sitting on the steps of an old foundation deep in a "holler" on our property. Local legend has that the house burned down in a moonshine accident. Even if not true, it's a good story.

Lon and friends on the Fore Mountain Trail.

This looks like spray paint marking utility lines. I couldn't figure out what was going on -- there are no utility lines in this area of our yard, and we didn't ask "Miss Utility" to come out and mark them. Instead, it's a reflection off our truck's taillights. But even close up, it looks like paint.

An interesting set of clouds on Sunday afternoon. It's too bad the photo had to be taken through our windshield and is marred by power lines.

Covington Mill at Night

I really like the "Handheld Night Scene" setting on my camera:

The WestRock Covington paperboard mill is a large installation along the Jackson River.

Steam coming out of the power generation stacks. When David was young and asked what his Daddy did, he would say "My Daddy makes big steam."

Jackson River Scenic Trail - New Section

Yesterday we biked the existing section of the Jackson River Scenic Trail (Intervale to Smith Bridge). Today we walked the under-construction 3.5 mile extension from Smith Bridge up to Natural Well. There's a lot of work left to be done on this section; in particular, three bridges (one currently under construction) need to be replaced.

The trail and heavy equipment near the Smith Bridge parking lot.

After about a mile we came to a bridge under construction. Fortunately there was a scaffolding plank set across Falling Spring Creek.

Sue and Dakota crossing the creek.

A small bridge over Dry Run was easy to cross, but clearly needed repairs or rebuilding.

A ready-to-go section of the trail near railroad milepost12 (trail mileage about 9.25 from Intervale, 2.25 from Smith Bridge).

The bridge over Board Tree Run was more exciting. Most of the cross-ties were rotted out and very spongy when walked on. The spaces between the cross-ties were large enough to catch your foot. Even though it was clear that vehicles had crossed this bridge recently, it felt like it could collapse as we walked across.

Another view of the ready-to-go part of the trail.

The turn-around point of our walk today -- Natural Well and the intersection of Rts 687 and 638. Eventually, the trail will continue for a few more miles to the Bath County line.

Lon with Dakota and Sadie. The dogs will sleep well tonight after a 7 mile hike!