Blue Skies Fill You With Joy - Part 2

Briefly I debated whether to ride the trail at Tims Ford or ride the roads.

The trail is a long out and back and (unlike the base) has no bailout points along the way.

No.............I was not in the mood to try such a big undertaking, or to take on such an extensive time and energy commitment, and decided to ride both the roads around the park and some of the paved trails instead.

I headed briefly down the road and turned right, following the sign leading to the golf course.

It has been a long time since I rode on the paved surfaces at the park and when I looked to my right and then my left and saw that there was lake on both sides of me, I quickly decided that I had made the right decision................

If you click on this picture you will see when it is larger what is not immediately obvious in a picture of this size.

Located behind the tree is the center of the picture is a deer.

I saw many during my ride yesterday while out at Tims.

They are very skittish - ready to run and then bolt for the woods at the briefest of disturbances.

While heading towards the golf course a handful ran across the road directly in front of me, gone before I had even begun the thought of digging my camera out of my jacket pocket.

At one point I saw two deer (one a doe and the other this years fawn) running along the side of the road to my right, barely still in the woods.

They ran along the tree line ahead of me and then the fawn crossed directly in front of me and was quickly lost in the trees.

I stopped riding for a moment waiting for momma to do the same thing but she did not.

I waited for another few minutes and looked deep into the woods on my side of the road for her but did not see her.

Hopefully, surely, they quickly met up with each other again when I decided to move on..............

It had been so long since I rode this way that I could not remember how far of a ride it was to the golf course.

As I was riding I saw a rutted out dirt trail on my right and on the spur of the moment pulled the bike off the road and headed in.

I did not get very far before I stopped, compelled to take a few moments to take in this scene of the lake.

I dropped my bike in the middle of the trail, walked down the steep embankment and stood by the shore greatly enjoying not having to share this moment with anyone else.

Relishing the blueness of the day..............

After climbing back up the embankment I picked up my bike and rode only another short distance before stopping again.

Yesterday I was bought and paid for.  A slave to incredibly calm blue sky and blue water............

My bike leaning up against a tree at the top of the embankment.............

After riding only a short distance I realized that what I was on was in fact a fairly short trail and that I was all too quickly coming to the end of it.

I stopped when I came to this.

The remnants of some unknown structure from the past............

While inspecting my surprising and unexpected find I looked up and my first thought was "well, I guess I found the golf course".

For 15 minutes I had been riding and bushwhacking and picture taking feeling as though I was deep in the woods a million miles away from everyone else in the world.

That feeling quickly faded as I took in the concrete structures and the putting green and then looked over to my left and saw the golf carts.

For a moment I felt extremely disappointed, and had to remind myself that I was in fact wandering around a very small state park located within 10 miles of three different towns in different directions.

I was not at Fall Creek Falls, or the Savage, or Big South Fork or any of the other parks where you really can find isolation and back country.

I sighed inwardly.

And then mounted my bike and headed back down the short trail to again pick up the paved road..................

The road dead-ended at the golf course.

I have seen the sign a million times over the years promoting the fact that this is a Jack Nicklaus designed course.

Which I imagine is a big deal to those who play golf (and golf is a very very popular activity in this part of the country).

I have only played golf twice. 

Rather, I should say that I have only dug a lot of holes in the grass twice and quickly decided that I would rather spend my time searching for white and orange orienteering flags in the woods as opposed to small white balls in the woods.

The clubhouse............

Rather than riding all the way up to the clubhouse, I instead veered onto the grass that circumnavigated the course.

Riding around the outside of one section of the manicured course to one corner I again leaned my bike up against a tree and again bushwhacked down to the water............

I did not spend a lot of time by the water, but instead snapped some pictures, climbed back up the embankment, grabbed my bike and happily headed back the way I had come, all the while greatly enjoying each quiet adventure after another.

Once back close to my starting point I rode a little further before again turning off and heading towards the parks rental cabins.

The last time I was here was...........I don't know how many years ago..........when I was warming up in early December before a six mile organized trail run.

I did the run annually for a few years because it was an event located so close to where I was living at the time and because I loved the simplicity of it.

I was deeply involved in adventure racing at the time and the logistics involved with that sport are awful.

The travel, the time off work, the accommodations, the sheer volume of gear required, the finding team-mates, coordinating schedules, the last minute purchases, the packing and on and on and on.

And that was before you even got to the start line of the race.

In comparison running a six mile trail run only a few miles from my house where I could be home by lunch time and napping by mid afternoon seemed like a breeze.

It was run mostly on paved trails which I did not care about.

And I was the kind of endurance athlete who gets stronger with each passing hour so pushing hard from the onset and then pushing hard for six miles was just not a strength of mine.

As is the case with many female endurance athletes in particular, I felt stronger 18 hours into an adventure race than I did in the first hour.

I ended up volunteering for the December trail run the last few years, preferring to help with it rather than to actually run it.

The last time I was in the area of the cabins was while warming up for one of those runs...............

The view from the back of the cabins...........

As has been the case so often in the past couple of years, looking at this tree I was again reminded of how little I actually know about nature.

An interesting and beautiful tree and I have no idea what it is............

I had stashed my camera deep into a side pocket of my jacket and was getting ready to turn and walk back up to my bike that I had leaned against a post in front of one of the cabins when I heard them.

They abruptly broke the silence I had been walking in and the stillness I had been relishing in inside the recesses of my usually too-fast-moving brain.

I turned to look at them, and when I first saw this beautiful flock of geese they were almost directly overhead and flying in their perfect V.

I made a mad scramble for my camera, eyeing these guys the entire time as I fumbled to turn it on, hoping that I could catch them in flight before they disappeared from sight.

Their V was beginning to break but I did manage a picture of them just in time...............

There are actually two sets of cabins at the park.

The first set is the picture above, and they are located on a point overlooking the water and in a large and wide open space.

The second smaller set of cabins are located adjacent to the first, down a paved side road closer to the boat ramp.

There are fewer cabins, they are located in a beautiful wooded area and they also overlook the water.

If I had my choice I would shoot for a cabin in the woods...............

I missed out on so many pictures of deer but managed to catch this guy who blends so perfectly with his surroundings.

I was riding down the small paved trail looking at the cabins and heading towards the boat ramp when all of sudden I saw him.

Usually these guys are on the run but he was standing very still staring at me, and watching me intently.

Not running.  But very ready to run at the first sign from me of ill intent.

I stopped and looked at him while straddling my bike, smiling inwardly.

As I slowly reached for my camera in my zippered jacket pocket and then slowly climbed off my bike he began to move and I hurriedly snapped this picture before he disappeared.

One more brief interaction with nature.

One more brief, sweet, honest, simple interaction with nature.............

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order............John Burroughs

Blue Skies Fill You With Joy - Part 1

A couple of days ago I ran 7 miles on trails out at the base.

On that day I had the entire place to myself as I always do whenever the weather is very bad.

The other day the weather was pretty bad but I happily ran in the cold and rain and wet snow anyway, happy to be doing exactly what I was doing in exactly the place that I was doing it.

The trails were absolutely silent.

Free of people, filled with leaves and fallen brush and downed trees.

I did not bring my camera on that day knowing that it was going to rain and snow all day and my non-waterproof camera would not hold up in such weather.

But in truth I wish that I had brought it because the trails looked very different from what I am used to.

After three hard days of mostly rain but turning to snow off and on when the temperature dropped far enough, every low lying area of the trails was filled with water.

I tried for a while to keep my feet dry but eventually gave that up when it quickly became obvious that it was a losing strategy after wading through a shin deep pond in the middle of a jeep trail that was so large (and surrounded by temporary running water offshoots) that it was impossible to bushwhack around.

I was wearing Gore Tex Montrail trail running shoes meaning they are waterproof.

Only in reality these shoes have not been waterproof for a long time. 

They have more miles on them than they should have and the waterproof properties of these shoes are long gone.

I never wore them during adventure races partially because they are heavy and a little clunky.

Mostly I never wore them in races because I was afraid to. 

Waterproof shoes are only useful if you prevent water from getting over the top of them, which was an impossible task during races.

There was always at least one paddling section on lakes and/or rivers.

There was always multiple creek and river crossings on foot and on bike.

Feet were typically wet more often than they were dry in every race.

Once water gets over the top and then into waterproof shoes there is nowhere for it to go, and it just sits and sloshes inside your shoes until you take them off and drain them out.

And I have seen more than a few (usually new) racers drop out of races because of blisters while wearing them.

Which is why I never wore Gore Tex Montrails during a race.

Which is why I always wore Salomons.  Feet would get wet, shoes would drain, feet would dry.

And then rinse and repeat until you get to the finish line.

The base trails the other day were absolutely filled with water, but I was dressed for the weather and was the sole owner of the trails and regardless of wet feet I had an outstanding run.

Even just writing that is strange when I think about whenever it was back in Cody last Spring that I went for a run on Bureau of Land Management land in back of the tiny house that we were renting.

I had not run in more months than I could remember, felt fat and sluggish and heavy on my feet, and from the first step to the last my body screamed at me as if to say:

"Karin!!  What the hell do you think you're doing???  Stop it!!!  Stop it right now!!!"

I am hinting wildly for Salomon shoes for Christmas..............

My Mountain Boy wanted to go back to the gun shop in Manchester this morning, but after grey skies and cold and wet weather for a few days, today was a warmer and calm and very blue day.

I dressed in a couple of layers top and bottom, loaded my bike up into the back of my truck and headed for Tims Ford State Park.

Tims Ford is a small and lovely state park located about 10 miles from Tullahoma.

As I drove out towards the park I stopped briefly at a marina only a few miles from the park gates.

I pulled my truck into the almost empty parking lot of the marina, looked out over the water and saw that it was glass smooth and that incredible blue color that you only see at this time of year when the wind is quiet, when the water is cold, and when the speed boats are finally covered and stored for the season.

The quiet was suddenly pierced by the sounds of ducks.

The sudden noise and the realization that I had been so busy looking out over the water that I had not even seen the ducks almost right at my feet surprised me.

I smiled as I looked down at the handful of white ones sitting directly in front of me, and then smiled again when I saw the colorful ones.................

For some unknown reason I have only been to this grill once over the years and I remember the food being very good.

I also remember those who were eating at the restaurant throwing bread and other food over the rail and into the water, and these beautiful white ducks happily and noisily gorging on the treats.............

With the grill closed and the boats covered for the Winter I did not see anyone at all during my visit to this place..........

My reflection in the water while taking pictures of the ducks............

It was a very very beautiful day.............

I had greatly disturbed the ducks close to the restaurant and they loudly voiced their displeasure with me as I continued to smile at the sight and sound of them.

As I slowly wandered further along the paved parking lot close to the water I heard the sound of other ducks coming from the opposite end of the lot and down the embankment.

As I headed in that direction these two unhappy and noisy characters appeared.

The large flock began to swim in that direction, and eventually these two stragglers regrouped with their compadres.

It was a sweet and peaceful and honest interaction in nature and I loved watching them and greatly enjoyed the simplicity of the experience..............

One more large dock.

Pleasing to the eye in that geometrical way of docks on the water.

I stood looking out over the winterized boats, the blue water, the blue sky, the leafless tree filled shoreline that stretched on for miles in front of me..............

I took many pictures exactly like this one at many of the very beautiful and wonderful boat docks in Juneau.............

After leaving the marina I headed directly to Tims Ford State Park and pulled the truck into the first parking lot I came to.

It is the parking lot closest to a paved trail that a mile later turns into a demanding out-and-back 10 mile dirt single track trail.

The last time I drove out here alone was before I left for Juneau Alaska, and at that time the small building adjacent to the parking lot was the park Visitors Center.

I was surprised to see a notice on the door of the building saying that the facility was closed and that the new Visitors Center was at the end of a long walk way.

After glancing over at the new building I was again surprised to see for the first time that a small rehab facility had also been constructed in the same area.

I met the park naturalist not too long before heading for Juneau and I found her to be a woman who was very passionate about her work.

She worked as a dedicated volunteer at the park and the last time I spoke with her she told me of her excitement that the park was planning to build her a rehab center.

That was wonderful news because at the time I knew her she was rehabbing injured and sick animals and birds out of her home.

Good for her.

And good for the birds and animals that will benefit from this new facility.

Today I saw only birds..............

My truck parked under what I "think" are magnolia trees...........

One last picture of one of these very very cute ducks...............

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive...........Eleonora Duse