I’ve had my eye on Lost Creek County Park for a while now, but never hiked any of the trails there until today.

We got a little coating of freezing rain overnight, so I waited until midday when the temperature got up to around 35 degrees; mild weather for February!
Groundhog Day!
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, so six more weeks of winter.

The forest
A lot of the trail is mowed through tall grass and weeds, so the surface is like walking on hay, but there are some pretty thick stalk stubs and the ground beneath can be irregular, so I walked slower than I might have on a trail that saw heavier use. In one spot the trail got a little obscured around a fallen tree, but casting around the area and guessing right got me on track again. The original forest is predominantly hardwoods, with pine plantings in rows that can be seen on the map above.
Wildlife
Lots of game trails cross the pedestrian one, and I saw a variety of fresh scat; lots of deer pellets, coyote, and a fairly large one that I couldn’t identify (didn’t try very hard). I also found two large turkey feathers in good condition, so probably newly lost. Bones: I saw a good-sized piece of a deer’s ribcage, very fresh, also a scattering of other fresh bones in another spot, and some older deer bones near the trailhead. This gets me to wondering about what sort of predator(s) might be hanging out in the area.
Quiet
The area is deep in farm and woods country; the adjoining roads are narrow with very little traffic, so there was almost no noise other than wind in the trees. The quietness was one of the most enjoyable features of my hike.
I plan on returning here and hiking all of the trails soon, but one was enough for today. It was less than a mile, total, but it was good to get out for a while.
Thanks for visiting driftlessqrp! Watch for my Winter Field Day post, coming Real Soon Now!
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