Today's hike was a bit of a bummer. It was a windy and cloudy day that turned into a windy and rainy day. And the trail wasn't that great as far as scenery goes. But the point of this whole thing is not just to enjoy the outdoors and to challenge ourselves. It is also about enjoying time together and (other than a few blisters) that is what we took away from today's hike. The focus was less about the scenery and more about the company on the trail.

This was not a good trail for a rainy day hike. The sky was big and open, with no canopy of trees whatsoever. We were fortunate and amazed however that each time the skies opened up on us, we just happened to come upon a bridge to duck under before getting very wet.




We decided that since we were taking cover here anyway, we might as well sit down and enjoy our lunch of bananas and trail mix. As soon as we finished and started walking again, the skies cleared...for awhile anyway.


The highlights of this trail section were the interesting locks and bridges.
There were also quite a few underpasses and tunnels to travel through. Luckily they were all just tall enough for Dan to walk through without hitting his head.




Wildlife we spotted included this long snake, who raised it's head and hissed a forked,red tongue at us before slithering away into the grass. We also saw a couple of hawks and of course the graceful and surprisingly loud great blue herons that can be seen all the way up and down this canal. We were told by trail staff to be on the lookout for eagles as well since they were supposedly seen on the trail just this morning. But as Dan couldn't resist commenting, there were no sightings of Joe Walsh or Don Henley for us today.

Luckily I love a good, corny joke and my hiking parter always has one ready. So despite the fact that by the end of the hike it was pouring rain, we had smiles on our faces as we half jogged/half dragged ourselves the last mile to shelter. By the way, we are now about halfway to our destination. I really hope the weather improves, or at least doesn't get worse.