Journal
| About Downunda | Trail
Facts | Hiking the Trail
State Guide | Elevation
Map | Fun Facts
Gear | Photos | Guestbook
| Mailing
List | Home
|
|
Journal
| About Downunda | Trail
Facts | Hiking the Trail |
 |
5th May 2002 From:
Partnership Shelter This morning we were awoken around 6:00 A.M. by all of the birds twittering and one could tell right away that today would be magnificent. There were about 12 in the shelter last night and 2 in tents. Most of these were up and on the trail by 7:30 as the day showed such promise. Real and Sidewinder were away first and I was right behind. The trail had a number of very steep climbs in the morning, which reminded me of the trail down south. The sun was really shining by around 11 o'clock, with no sign of clouds and the trail started to wind around and through many rhododendron groves and crossed many streams; it was rather beautiful. Coming down out of the hills around 12:30 I met Deldoc (with his GPS gear) and his wife who is acting as his mobile support team. We sat together in a sunny meadow and had lunch together. Following lunch, the hiking was easy with gentle up and downs, but boy was the scenery and countryside something else! We hiked between rolling hills amidst small farms, lots of flowering cherry trees were along the trail. We were out of the forest now and meandering through luscious rolling meadows. After leaving the truck stop, I crossed the highway and headed up through the meadows and into the hills and the cover of the forest. It was around 25 degrees Celsius so some shade from the trees was welcome. The next shelter I came to had no water source so I ended up doing a lot more miles than planned today and kept going up, over, and down the mountains until around 7:00 P.M when I came to a campsite by a stream. Real, Grinder, and Ishmail were there. Grinder and Ishmail are a young couple from Massachusetts who are just out of college. Polish Ninja rolls up later on as does one other day hiker. It will be a lovely night to be under the stars. About bird life…. the most common is the Junco. It's a small bird around the size of a Goldfinch, with a dark grey color, with white wingtips and tail feathers. They make a chit, chit, chit call and are always flying across the trail or hanging around the shelter for food. I keep hearing many different birdcalls but never see the birds as they are hidden in the forest. This afternoon I saw a beautiful rust colored bird about the size of a blackbird. I only caught a few glimpses of it but hopefully I will see some more. I also saw a Cardinal, which is also about the size of a Blackbird. It had jet black and shiny plumage with striking red and white markings on the upper wing near the body. This is an absolutely beautiful bird to see. It's now 9:30 P.M., I'm in bed but hear the others down by the campfire they've lit, so, it's lights out for me. From the trail, it's goodnight all. Downunda |
|
