Luther by Foot and a Round Lake sideshow

Luther Forest

After a very rainy trip upstate on Sat morning and freezing temps Sunday morning the dreaded inevitable happened!. When I rolled into Luther Park for a morning ride, I could not get the bike off the rack as the lock was frozen! Bummer! I really wanted to GPS the new flat loop on the south side that I had discovered last time so I hiked in instead.

The main trail in was pretty icy and the icy crunchy footprints would have made a bad ride in but once I got to the flat loop, it looked deliciously rideable and I regretted not having the bike.

A fat biker passed by me quite a few times - he was grooming the trail for others but otherwise I saw no one in the park. The sun came out and although it was cold... it was a pleasant hike.

A thin layer of ice was on all the conifers. They were bent from all the extra weight and leaned in everywhere into the trail.

 

 

 

Curiosity led me to climb up this bank and see the dirt pit on the other side...

After finishing the GPS on the flat loop, I ventured down on the loop that leads to the bottom on the canyon. With no foliage, it was amazing how much of the whole area was visible.

(click to enlarge)

After finishing my hike and getting only 9975 steps :(bummer) --  I decided to drive around the Forest Roads a bit and then I headed to Round Lake.

Round Lake

This little village is such a unique anomaly. Built ages ago as a Methodist Camp, tightly-spaced colorful gingerbread houses and a huge ancient auditorium give it a fairy tale quality.

The tracker organ in the auditorium is one of the oldest in the country and I remember the thrill of going to a concert here with my parents when I was younger...