Tuesday morning it rained harder than I’ve heard it rain in a long time. By midday, though, the skies were clear. So I headed out to walk up a mountain at Mint Springs Valley Park. I figured I owed Tucker an outing as he’d been inside all day Monday while I attended my master gardener class.
The rain was still pouring down the mountain, turning the trails into creeks. It made for beautiful but very muddy hiking. I have many times swum in the lake at Mint Springs, which has a nice sandy beach and is ringed by mountain ranges. But this was my first time on the trails at the park.
There were a couple of old homestead chimneys along the path.
And the lime green evidence of spring just starting to appear.
I was hiking along the ridgetop and was clobbered by a fragrance memory as I entered a grove of pines. For a minute I was zapped more than a decade back to college and hiking in the pine forests of Mount Lemmon near Tucson, Arizona.
Looking southwest over Greenwood toward Nelson County.
First tick of the season, crawling in the waistband of my jeans. It hadn’t bitten me yet, but definitely signaled the insect misery of the summer to come.
Super happy flying trail dog
The upper lake at the end of the hike. In all we did a few miles up, and then down, the Little Yellow Mountain. The trails aren’t extensive at Mint Springs, but they travel through a nice variety of topography and best of all, I was the only person on them.
As I was leaving the park I saw this blazing barn in an old apple orchard. I ditched the car, jumped out,
scrambled across a creek on this handy fallen tree,
and got a few photos right before the sun ducked behind the mountain and the whole scene went dead.
Amazing photographs! Love the photo of flying Tucker… I have never encountered ticks before… thank “god” for that, however I have read that adding certain essential oils to your daily body lotion can help repel them. If you buy a fine mist spray bottle add the oils (a few drops of thyme, tree tree, oregano.. etc, plenty to choose from) 1/3 natural lotion and the rest distilled water you can have a natural repellent spray for the tick season.