Merry Creek Trail

I usually don't think to do write ups on day hikes but because Bhancock said he likes any report with pics here you go. I had to go to a local city today, (pop. 8000 or so ), so i thought while i was there i would do one of the many local hikes there. There's an active trail group there and they have about a dozen hikes around the city from around 1 mile to 15 miles in length or in loop total. Today i went out on the Merry Creek Trail which used to be an old horse logging area so some of the trail is old skid trail. I actually forget how long it is but it only took me a couple of hours including a quick lunch.

I didn't start taking pics till the lookout .This is only part of the 180 degree view.
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Coming down the trail i passed a granite bluff, a little ode to Sippsey,. All i could do was think about climbing up.
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The trail was very narrow in places as it weaved its way through some nice forest and boulders.
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About half way down i passed a couple of ponds that still had ice on them. There was nice light breaking through the trees as the bullfrogs were giving it their all.
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There were lots of brooks and streams along the trail and quite often they would run parallel creating a very nice feel.
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Sometimes you'd come into small open meadows
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Sometimes you'd travel along beautiful open trail areas covered in leaf matter and hemlock needles.
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The forest was quite tight in places, open to ponds in other places , small brooks crossing the trail and a good lookout where i cooked me some noodles. All in all a nice trail. Oh and i got to say thankyou, sort of , in the way of trail maintenance. I went to use the outhouse they had in the middle of the trail and some joker had crapped on the seat so i cleaned the outhouse up and said thanks to the trail. Hoping in the near future to do a few more of these trails. Oh yea and i got big XL freezer bags for my soon to be here ULA Circuit. Gotta love that.
Cheers

Breathtaking pics! I am SO jealous, here on the flat, red dirt praire.

I certainly live in the wrong city...:(:(

What a beautiful hike. Wish I had something like that near here. I am so jealous!

Wow ... thanks for sharing ... wow ..

Great hike ... great pic's ... makes me miss the hemlocks that use to cover most of Linville Gorge ... THANKS for posting

I'm glad everyone's enjoying the day hike report. If i can remember to take my camera i'll do a little report each time i visit that town and do a new trail. I guess i look at that kind of scenery and better so often that i don't think its anything special. I like looking at the reports of Arizona , Sipsey and the Appalachia hardwood forests. I guess the grass is greener elsewhere idea. Soon to come . Koch Creek falls, Tarzan ,confluence , and the yellow pine hills.

You got pretty high up there. What an amazing view. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for posting your trip! Really beautiful place!

awesome pictures...thank you for sharing. I wish i could get out more. can't wait till summer when the kids are out of school....day hikes here we come.. every day off i get we will get out....I need to research some nice places here within a 2 hour drive...lol Hopefully we will get to see some scenery.

Beeeeaaauuuuuutiful!!!!!!!!

Great Pictures and a nice way to spend the afternoon, some of the pics did remind me of Sipsey. Thanks for sharing.