Taking a jaunt through the Northwest Cemetery was fun but ideally I was out for a hike today. All the cemeteries and fishing holes were just a distraction. Really I wanted to find a nice trail and enjoy the somewhat moderate weather. It was only 79 degrees out, in the past week it’s been 84 and although that seems only a slight difference it really isn’t when slogging through the woods!
I’d passed by a number of trailheads which weren’t marked. I wasn’t sure if they were private property and was really on the lookout for something that I could park in front of without being towed away or reported. That’s always a plus. So when I started seeing a few feeble signs for the Federated Woman’s Club State Forest I couldn’t help but wonder what that was. I turned in and it was…. completely vacant. I am not sure any cars have been down here since spring. The roads were ROUGH. The potholes were so deep that the undercarriage of the Prius got a bit scraped up despite me trying desperately to drive less than ten miles an hour and go around them. The GPS was also no help. According to my map I was driving into nowhere. The roads weren’t even showing up.
Finally I drove up to a little parking space which looked like it was at a trailhead although nothing was marked at all. I stopped and tried for the fourth time today to type in “Where am I?” into my cell phone and for the fourth time it told me I was out of range for any kind of internet connection. SIGH. So unfortunately I have no idea which trail it was that I took or where it was… only that I was somewhere within the boundaries of the park.
There were signs everywhere warning that hunting and trapping were allowed here. I guess it’s a good thing I have neon orange hair. I don’t feel like being shot today. The trail at first seemed like an old road and someone had probably driven up it somewhat recently but before I knew it the path narrowed and started looking more like a hiking trail. It was SO QUIET out here that all I could hear was the birds. I don’t think there was a soul around and I don’t think many people aside from trappers and hunters must use these trails because it wasn’t long before it went from a pleasant stroll to “Hmmm, there appears to a be a bridge which I am not sure if humans or beavers built and the trail…. doesn’t seem very trail like anymore…” Plus it was getting hot so I turned around at the weird log bridge.
I had on the way discovered some weird mushrooms, the likes of which I had never seen before. I’d also scared a few frogs, tangoed with a dragon fly or two, and spotted and old stone which I could not prove or disprove may have been a burial for someone. It’s not unusual to find stones in State Forests – often the land is donated by people whose families have lived on it for a long time and back in the day cemeteries were frequently tiny family plots of only 1-20 individuals basically in the back yard of the family farm. Over time trees grow, houses crumble, and people forget.
I was pretty melted by the time I got back to the car but I was having such a wonderful day. This was the ultimate introvert’s retreat. I really felt like I was so far from civilization that I could have turned feral at any moment. I drove down the road some more to see if I could find any more trails. There was one that was badly hidden that I passed by accidentally and then the road basically stopped at a T. To the left there was a big sign reading, “Road closed, bridge out!” and to the right there was a gate across the way. There was a small parking area fit for maybe four cars and I was tempted to check it out but I was still pretty overheated and decided this might be best for another day. Besides I had one more adventure – to the South Cemetery in Wendell – to go to before going home.
