Twenty-three people came out to hike the Pipestone Creek trail on a beautiful sunny day.
The terrain ranges from open fields to leafy woods to deep dark forests. We found the heat and humidity withering at times, but there were some spots with cooling breezes. The trail conditions were impeccable, have just been cleared the Wednesday before.
From the start, 17 hikers opted to walk at the regular Waskahegan pace. They continued to the lunch spot at the end of a high meadow with a view of the creek below. Along the way they encountered a skittish herd of cattle and a screeching hawk. Their total hike distance was 10.6 km.
The remaining 6 hikers took a slower pace to investigate and photograph the trail’s abundant flora. For them, the trail had some unexpected treats—wood lilies, a plant that might be an orchid, and a lot of large butterflies, including a yellow swallowtail. The flower group got as far as the bridge at A50 and hiked a total distance of 6.8 km.
On the return, the two groups converged at a stile less than a kilometer from the cars. This hike was our first time we attempted to have a both regular-paced group and a slow group. It worked well.
As I was with the flower group and obsessed as usual with flowers, I missed getting pictures of the larger group. All I have is what’s here and on Flickr. But I heard the regular group say they really enjoyed the hike. There were a lot of smiling faces.
In our Flickr album, you’ll find more than 35 different flower species.
