Hey Guys!

Ran into Mike and Jeff at Corby North this evening. It's fun to see those guys - and I love Jeff's teal Yeti, should have got a picture of it. They helped me cut out one of the trees that had dropped in the storms this week. Trails were generally in good shape on both sides of the parkway, and there were only about 4-5 trees that made the trail impassable. There was only two that required the saw.

The big rains have brought some opportunities for improvement to light on the South trails. There are a couple steep ups and downs that have become white water washouts. On one of them I added a diverter log to send water over the side of the trail and down the hill. Hopefully no one knocks it out of the way. The other trails will need something similar, I think the water just needs to spill off the edge of the trail periodically and it should be fine.

All in all it was a beautiful ride. There were some unpleasant challenges though. The flying ants were out and I think I must have had over 100 of them in my hair by the time I got home. That's okay though, all the spiders I ran into in the trails needed a snack anyway. I think I shook 3 spiders out of my hair and jersey when I got home. Nasty.... Starting to look forward to fall and the first deep freeze. Also looking forward to day hikes in the long slow drizzles on a 40 degree day. The woods are just a completely different world on those days, and they are one of the things I have come to love about Northern Missouri.

Saw mama deer and what looks like a brand new fawn. I thought August was a little late to have a wobbly legged fawn tripping through the woods, but what do I know. I guess practically living in backyards, they probably don't have to work too hard to survive in the winter, but I imagine things would get a little rough if doe and fawn were in a little more wild area. Good luck friends.