A WALK IN THE WOODS.

Because the Bronco developed a transmission leak, we extended our stay in Mt. Vernon. Today, we haul it to Monroe  and settle in for Mike Coleman to perform his magic on it. I’ve enjoyed this park for its beautiful woods, great Olympic sized swimming pool and the hot tub.

Walking around the park reveals the forest’s past. Huge crumbling, rotting trunks that now sport a new tree with roots and branches twineing around them.

You soon realize as you walk from Motor Home to pool, or recycling, or just cruising the park, that everywhere you look is a transformed old stump.

We must have seen a hundred of them; remnants of a once majestic rainforest logged probably fifty or more years ago.

One day we opted for a walk through the deep woods on the property. It was quiet and peaceful. We found Lush moss on huge alders.

Ferns four feet high and five feet wide.

Deep shade.

Light struggling through the canopy.

Downed trees.

This tree was obviously cut. The moss quickly takes over.

We seldom get to walk where you could use a machete to fight through the growth.

Out of the deep woods, we saw wild flowers seven feet tall in the undergrowth.

In an hour and forty minutes we traveled but  5 miles distance through the woods.

Jim hasn’t spent much time in this park; we know we will be returning just to enjoy this woods again.

The park also serves as a preserve. For us it was a look back in time.

HIKING HORSESHOE LAKES

Horseshoe Lakes is made up of ten named lakes and several smaller un-named lakes. We've hiked around those nearest to us and decided to see the rest of the area. A couple boaters were out  fishing in the morning and some kids were fishing from the bank. Other than that, there is not much activity on these nice little lakes.

This is Four Island Lake, which describes it perfectly and is the biggest lake in the cluster. We completely walked around it our second day here.

 Turkey Toe has several inlets that resemble fijords. You can stand on the bank and see water on either side of you.

One end of North Lake

Goose Foot. The names are typically descriptive of their shape.

On the way back to the motor home we passed this invitation to come on in and have a margarita. I think everyone is familiar with the figure of Maxine. People never lack for a sense of humor when they set up their space. Jim called it a day, but I decided to take the forest hike as well.

Butterflies were plentiful here and I found a milkweed pod which is great butterfly food.

Horseshoe Lakes Preserve also grows several tracts of soybeans and ethanol corn on the outer perimeter of the property.

Choke cherries, wild grape and another white berry that I don't recognize grow around the lakes.

This pretty blue butterfly closed its wings just as I snapped.

This darker butterfly may be the same species as the one above. I don't know my butterflies that well.

I saw several others species that I couldn't get pictures of. This one seemed to hover near fallen berries on the ground.

Several butterflies thought this plant was pretty yummy as well. I don't recognize the plant since Indiana forest is unfamiliar to me.

The forest hike ended back near the ranger station at Miners Lake.
This pretty spot was breezy and cool and a pleasant place to stay as we gear up for a straight shot back to California.

We sat outside and read until the sun went down on Horseshoe Lake.