Today's goal was to get website pictures for the second half of the trail tour. I transported the bike and gear to Elysian. Elysian is almost exactly halfway between Mankato and Faribault. I headed east in search of interesting subjects to photograph.
As I started East, it was sunny and a bit chilly. I put on a windbreaker and proceeded. It gradually got warmer. After a few miles, I was back to my shirtsleeved. In fact, I got a little bit of sunburn on my nose and arms.
Very evident was the overall progress on greening. Trees, shrubs and grasses are coming to life. Just about every songbird was back. First bird I saw was a goldfinch, and then a catbird. In just a short time, the list had expanded from the common to the more difficult to identify. I even saw a Canadian Goose resting on her nest.
It is interesting to note that Bloodroot is found in Lime Valley entrance to the 22 Entrance, inside Sakatah State Park and the last few miles before Faribault. The rest of the area contained none. It is also interesting that Dutchman's Breeches are nearly always found near Bloodroot and not usually by itself. Perhaps someone knows the answer...
I was planning on stopping in Warsaw for lunch, but there was only one restarant and it wasn't opened in the afternoon. Warsaw has no downtown, I find this incredibly strange. Not even a gas station.
Ate in Faribault and headed back. To give you some idea, I took over 4 hours to get to Faribault due to stopping for pictures. It only took 1.5 hours to get back. It went very fast.
Perhaps I'll expand more tomorrow... I am very tired. :-)
2 comments:
Enjoyed blog especially wildflower comments. I need to get back to biking myself. We enjoy the bike trail from Preston to Lanesboro and beyond.
Hi I’m Heather! Please email me when you get a chance! I have a question about your blog. HeatherVonsj(at)gmail(dot)com
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