We took a loooonnnng hike along the South Branch of the Ausable River today. This has always been a fave hiking / skiing / kayaking spot for us but it has been a while since we’ve been there. I marveled that my phone was showing the 4G network even though there weren’t enough bars (circles?) for it to be of much use, although the GG did receive a couple of phone calls.

Whenever it was that we last hiked this trail I don’t think I had cell service at all. It may have even been before I had an iPhone. Anyway, we didn’t launch early this morning. That was by design. We wanted to have a leisurely breakfast at the cabin / Group Home. We did that but then the GG hung out in the closet all morning and we didn’t end up leaving the Group Home until something like 11:30 AM.

That was a bit of a later start than I had envisioned and we ended up hiking farther than I originally wanted to. The hike we did was what the GG wanted to do (I think) and actually it was also what *I* wanted to do. Chase Bridge Road up and around the Thayer Loop and back. I dunno how many miles but I was taaarred at the end! Bears? We did not see any bears (dead or alive) but we did see a few dumps of bear scat and one huge dump that was probably horse manure. I am not a scat expert but I do not think that horses eat a lot of berries. I know that bears do. Oh, and then there was the woman who freaked out a bit when she and her daughter met us on the trail. She had thought I was a bear… … … Okay. I was dressed in black. Not necessarily the best choice given that there are hunters out and about. But. I look like a bear? Sheesh! I did not tell that woman about our bare bear experience at Tahquamenon a couple weeks ago.

I fergit what time we finally stumbled out of the woods but I know that I felt fantastic, like I always do when I hike the heck out of myself. We stopped at the Glens Family Fare in Roscommon to pick up a tomato and a box of rice and then schlepped back down to the Group Home, where was a mini-van parked in the yard and we were pleasantly surprised to find that one of our nieces and her children were here! We love spending time with our nieces and nephews and are so glad when they show up!

Back down to The Planet Ann Arbor tomorrow. I have this blasted earworm in my head today. It didn’t help that I confessed to the GG about the earworm and he SANG THE WHOLE BLASTED SONG!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 12th, 2014 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.