WALK IN THE WOODS 2011

My 2011 Walk in the Woods is complete.  65.27 miles according to my trusty pedometer and that is a mile and a half beyond my goal of a mile for every year old I am. My time in the woods has been awesome! 

I had challenged myself to give serious contemplation to what I called a "triad of three R's" :  Relationships, Reflection and Renewal"  and I think I accomplished all three.  I had time away from Norm-- my rock and my best friend. Time away always makes me appreciate him even more for the unique and wonderful guy he is.  I had time with friends this week - new friends  and old - and feel our relationships deepened 'in the woods," so to speak. :-)  I also had time to reflect on relationships in general: What is, and what is not, important to me in the people I chose to spend my time with, as well as how I chose to spend the time I have left. (Yes, folks, we do each have a limited amount of that left ! LOL)  I spent time reflecting on Nature and on The Great Mystery and came home refreshed and renewed in both body and Spirit.

Yes my time in the farmlands and the forests of Iowa was  for me time well spent. Who knows, it just may need to begun an annual pilgrimage that I take.....or,,,,perhaps I'll think up another adventure!  It's all good.  Yes, it's all very, very good....and the beat goes on.

Peace & Most Positive Thoughts,

~Nancy

WHERE THE FARM MEETS THE FOREST

   I was up early to get a start on the day. I wanted to get in a good long hike in the morning so I could run into Dubuque in the afternoon and find a WIFI outlet and catch my blog up. The morning was ‘damp’.  It must have rained last night although I couldn’t tell you for sure because I slept like the dead.  All this walking is good for me!  LOL

I tromped down the hill towards the old stone farmhouse and once again walked where the farm meets the forest.  By the time I was done my jeans were soaked up to the knees and my shoes were going squish, squish, squish with every step.

But it was a beautiful morning and I caught just the end of dawn and ended my morning tromp with a walk-about the abbey grounds including the tiny little cemetery that must be for the Sisters who have served here. Very touching. 

My “walk in the woods” is nearly over. Only tomorrow morning left and then I’ll drive home. I can see that I’ll easily make my goal of 63 and 2/3 miles (one mile for each year old I am) and I know that I will continue with my walking once I return home. For my more athletic friends my goal probably seems very small. For me it was enormous. I’m proud of what I’ve done.  I’ve spent time with friends; I’ve spent time alone.  And it’s all been awesome!…..and the beat goes on.

OUR LADY OF THE MISSISS|IPPI

Friday, September 23

I’ve been to the Abbey before – The Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey just outside Dubuque, Iowa. I know what a tranquil place it is to retreat.  Seven times a day those sweet nuns sing their prayers and anyone is welcome to go, sit in the little ‘side chapel’ and listen. You can’t see them; only hear them shuffle in, quietly sitting down and then the singing begins. This is my fourth time to visit and I never get tired of hearing them.

The Abbey grounds are also a great place for a hike!  I like to think of it as the place where the “farm meets the forest,” since it is a working farm (the land is rented out not run by the sisters) complete with cows. Even the farmland seems to carry the same tranquility I feel when I sit in the chapel and listen to the singing.  Good energy here! 

So I drew from that energy and caught up the distance that I lost the day before when that storm kicked up in the middle of my hike by hiking all over the farm and up and down the dreaded “cardiac crusher” hill to the old stone farmhouse to my little room in the retreat house and back not once, but twice!

  Another bodacious day along the way of my not so infamous “Walk in the Woods.”

MINES of SPAIN

 Wednesday, September 21

There should have been a STORM WARNING for today!  Maybe there was and I just didn’t get the memo. I left Mary’s house in Marion, Iowa in the morning and drove about two hours to Dubuque.  My goal was to trek the “Mines of Spain” and find out what that intriguing name is all about.
The sun was shining and it looked to be another perfect day for a tromp in the woods.

   Once in Dubuque I found the trail and after a bit of confusion between the differences in my map and the one from the Interpretive Center I got started. The sun was still out and only a bit of a breeze through the trees – just enough to make a nice sound. I started down the Nature Trail  descending about a thousand steps (Note to self :You’re going to have to climb UP these on the way back) toward the Junkerman Farm – an old farm  that the trail travels through.

Passing the little chapel in the woods that dates back to the early 1800’s I came to the Wine Cellar, then let the farm and caught the Mesquakie Trail. I noticed that the ‘colors’ are just beginning to change – just a few highlights of red and gold but not the dramatic show that is to come in another week or two, but it was a beautiful day and  I was having an adventure.

But then, about three-quarters through what was supposed to be a trek “out and back again” of 9.5 miles the sun disappeared, and the wind kicked up.  It happened so fast I couldn’t believe it.  One minutes I was tromping along thinking I should stop and take off my jacket; the next I was  shivering and looking for cover!  The sky (what I could see form under  the forest’s canopy ) turned  that strange color of dusty pea green that all Midwesterners know is not good thing.  So, I decided to turn around early  and pick up my step trying to get off the trail before the storm hit . NOT! Very quickly the woods began to HOWL as the wind tore through, crashing branches  and knocking a nut right on the top of my head. Ouch.  But no rain. Very strange indeed. But, you can bet that I hustled just as fast as I could to get back to my car. Even all those many stairs I had to climb on the way out flew under my feet. Funny what a great motivator fear can be!  LOL

I didn’t find out what that name, “Mines of Spain,” is all about except that there used to be a large lead mine in the area. And my ‘big’ hike for the day was cut down to only 6.58 miles according to my trusty pedometer. But it’s all good.  I survived the storm in the Mines of Spain.  ..and the adventure goes on. 

LOOPING THE LOOPS at CORALVILLE RESERVOIR

   Another FAN-TAB-U-LOUS day walking in the woods of Iowa.  Linder and Squire Points of the Coralville Reservoir was the trek de jour. On branch was called "Woodpecker." My dear friend, Maxine, joined me for a tromp that was, according to the Hiking Iowa book I've been following was only suppose to be 4.4 miles long.  But, my trusty pedometer, and my aching joints told me we walked 7.24 miles this morning.  Of course some of the trails  meander ,and the footpaths meet and separate many times along the way. And, off course, we did see some of the trails more than once....maybe  a couple of them we saw even more than  twice. LOL 

It could not have been a prettier day: sunny, warm, but not hot, just a whisper of a breeze that got those old trees murmuring their secrets as we chattered along and caught up on each other's lives. The morning flew by and if it weren't for our aching joints we'd probably still be out there circling the trails and be chattering!

The woods were lovely. The sunlight filtered through just enough to keep it light, but not warm, and we had several extra surprises along the way. A tiny deer greeted us on arrival at the trailhead. He didn't seem one bit afraid  (see how close I got with my camera?!)

 We DID get to walk down by the lake  but only briefly. We'd been told earlier that the trail didn't go near the lake. We found a teeny-tiny 'waterfall' (so small I'd call it more of a tricklefall, but it had a nice, soft, soothing purr) and the Best-of-the-Best that win's the prize for the day was ....DRUMROLL........the "Pot of Gold" of mushrooms Maxine spotted growing at the base of two trees.  They were such a bright, fluorescent, orange that, from a distance, I thought they were a piece of plastic all wadded up.

It was a very good day! I got to walk through the woods with a lovely friend. It was a day to listen and to talk. A day to contemplate on my triad of "R"s (Relationships, Reflection, and Renewal). And that's exactly what my 'walk in the woods' is all about. Today... I think I nailed it!


I'll be moving on down the road tomorrow morning  to the Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey. A serene retreat house awaits me and I'll have four whole days of walking, writing, and likely eating LOTS of those yummy caramels the Sisters make.

Life is more that good....and the beat goes on....

~Nancy

A CHANGE OF PLANS

   I got a late start today as I didn't leave home until after noon, but it worked out just fine.  I was headed up north to the Palisades State Park, but along the way I remembered another trail from the book of Iowa's Hiking Trails, so I pulled over, dug out my book and read up on it and decided it was perfect for today!  By tromping this one I didn't have to drive an extra hour so it made sense, especially given my late departure.

Brinton Woods overlooking the Skunk River near Brighton, Iowa was a perfect 5.11 miles and I was ready for a wee bit shorter trek this afternoon anyway.  It was actually not one trail; it's six interconnected and looping ones, so I felt like I was really walking some distance since I could name them all off : Indian ridge, Grandfather, Best rock, Tall Timber, Crazy Horse, and Wood duck, but in reality it was a fairly short tromp.  :-) 

Brinton Woods had it's own sort of dangers though!....It appears that it is used mostly my equestrians.  I was fairly tip-toeing-through-the-doo-doo all afternoon!  I'm telling you, I stepped on "a piece of the forest left out by mistake" more than once!  LOL.  But it was a beautiful day all the same.

Trekking alone today gave me a chance to clarify what this "Walk in the Woods" is about for me. Several have asked if it's an 'organized thing.'  No, It's just my 'thing'.  Three words came to mind today as I tromped the Brinton Timbers: Relationships, Reflection, Renewal.  I'll talk more about that tomorrow but, as usual, I am pooped and heading to bed now.

I'm at Mary's for the evening. she spoiled me good with some yummy Sweet & Sour Chicken. Now it's time to get rested up for the morning when I'll meet a good friend, Maxine Bulechek, at Panera's  and then we'll be off to walk around the Coralville Reservoir.... and maybe beyond!  Another great day for it says my weatherman.

And the beat goes on....

Walk in My Neighborhood!

Days Two and Three of my "walk in the woods" have been spent here at home.  I've just done my short little 3-mile-to-the-bridge-and-back walk as I am still recovering from that jaunt around Lake Geode.  Boy! That one showed me some muscles and ligaments that I haven't been using for a while!

 But don't think that I'm slacking off. These two 'little walk days' were already planned into my over-all plan .These are 'rest' days. Tomorrow Meg King and I are walking all over the Lake Keosaqua area - probably close to 10 miles!  Am I ready!  I'll give you a hint....I'm just about ready....about 90 percent!  LOL