Kensington Hike

Being off work for a few weeks could mean a serious weight gain since I'm a stress eater.  Luckily I also love to hike and the weather has been perfect.  On Tuesday my friend Anne Marie (the one I've known for 50 years!) joined me at Kensington for a 4 mile hike.  We were mostly on the pink trail on the map below - upper right side.  Afterwards, we went to the beach for a while adding another mile on the walk there and back.

On Thursday late afternoon I headed back out to the same area but went "off trail" a bit.  I started out at 1 (map above) and then to 7 but from there, went straight north where I hit this grass trail that goes around the perimeter of the park to the west.

I have been on part of this trail before in the late winter.  It's much different in mid summer and while the grass was "cut", it was still quite long.  It's interesting how much harder you have to walk in this deep grass.  It's almost a march.  I actually thought it was part of the bridle path for horses but in looking at the full Kensington map, it's not.

Can you see the butterfly?

Some areas are heavy, dense hardwood forest and others are like this with newer growth and not much ground cover.

Eventually I ended up back on the groomed trails although this big hill always gets my heart beating!

It's kind of worth it though when you get views like this from up there!

I love this spot with these towering pine trees.  It's like a cathedral of nature.

I have no idea what these plants are in this little valley/stream area but they almost look prehistoric to me.

No trip down this path is ever complete without a visit from the sandhill cranes.

This was new! Looks like lightening hit this tree and peeled off a big section.  Or maybe it was just rotting from the inside. Its hard to tell...there was a lot of black around the outside and lower half that made me think lightening.

One of the narrowest bridges.

While I really love hiking alone, it doesn't exactly afford you the opportunity to include yourself in pictures.  I'm pretty much a sweaty mess by this point but my water bottle made a good kickstand for my phone to set the timer and run back to get a photo!  LOL!

I never get tired of this view.  The frogs were super loud though!

Much of my path was in the shade of trees but crossing this bridge is full sun.  It's beautiful and a favorite spot for bird watchers.  I often see them out here with their binoculars and cameras with telephoto lenses.

I'm totally obsessed with this app. You'll see all the same pictures that were above but also my path.  I just think it's super cool!