Harrison Bay S.P. 5.22.18

It was a nice day for a hike.  Although it was overcast and threatened rain, the rain never materialized.  I have to admit it was a bit humid though.  We had 15 hikers on the easy rated 4.5 mile hike.  The trail meandered around Harrison Bay as you can see by the map included with the photos.  There was a king snake and a frog spotted, but of course I didn't see either one.  The altitude of the hike ranged from 654 to 674 feet.  Big whoop de doo.  Following the hike, 10 of us ate lunch at the Dockside restaurant right at the Harrison Bay Marina.  If you would like to see some pictures, click here.

Flipper Bend 5.19.18

Three hardy hikers (John. Gloria and Tom) pertook of Saturdays' (hike in the clouds).  We departed the trailhead at approximately 8:30.  The temperature was about 67.  It began raining shortly into the hike and continued until we almost reached the loop part of the trail at the 2 mile mark.  This first part of the hike was the most difficult.  The trail was rocky, muddy and rainwater was turning the trail into a running stream at points.  We entered the loop part of the trail and continued for approximately a mile and a half to the first overlook.  Not much to see because it was still very foggy.  We then continued to the 2nd overlook which was halfway into the trail and had our snack.  The overlook was pretty much overgrown due to the lack of traffic to it after the fire a year and a half ago.  The fog began to clear and we were able to see a bit more of the view as compared to the 1st overlook.  The temperature began to rise and we continued our hike along the loop back.  We ran into a navigation problem when passed under the power lines on the return loop.  We couldn't pickup the trail blaze when we passed under the lines.  We ended up entering and unmarked trail we thought would get us back onto the main loop.  It did that but we turned the wrong direction on the loop and ended up back under the power lines.  We lost about half to three quarters of an hour and added approximately one and a half miles to our 8 plus mile hike.  Once we were headed in the right direction we had no problem staying on the trail.  All in all it was a good hike.  We had several sections where we got our cardio workout.  The views were a little obscured at first.  There were some flowers in bloom – mountain laurel I think.  We exited the trail at 1:45 and estimated the hike at 10+ miles.  This hike is rated as severe.  If you would like to see some pictures, click here.