October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 3

Wednesday

Rocky Top Trail -- The weather is changing and it will probably rain most of the day on Thursday so I decided to take one more hike at the state park. Rocky Top Trail is on the west side of Grand Glaise arm near the public beach. The trail is 2 miles long and goes through several diverse ecosystems -- this is probably the best trail I've taken this week. It starts by climbing up the slope to a dolomite glade with large rock outcrops and prairie grass. The glade is being maintained to keep cedar trees from moving in. It looks like an easy walk but it is almost solid rock and there are many places to trip or turn your ankle...I'm glad I had my walking stick with me. The trail crosses the glade and then enters the forest and starts a slow descent into a valley. The trees were very colorful...much more than I expected. Even on an overcast day the colors were all aglow. Before long the trail reaches a dry creek bed. The trees in this valley are mostly maples...somewhat unusual in the Ozarks. I'm used to the subdued fall colors of the oaks and hickory trees with the occasional reds of the dogwood trees but the maples were aglow in a bright yellow. The creek bed had a rock shelf that must produce a small waterfall when there is water flowing. We had so much rain last week that I expected to see some water but it was mostly dry except for a few pools and pot holes. The trail slowly climbs up out of the valley and then follows a ridge top that slopes away sharply on each side. The trail then comes out on top of a cliff overlooking Lake of the Ozarks and you get a full panorama view of that portion of the lake. Most of what you see is wooded so it must be state park land. There was a boat of fisherman across the lake and a few boats went by but it was very quiet and relaxing just sitting and watching the lake from that height. I stayed about 20 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed it. I scared up a couple deer while I was walking and saw something that might have been a weasel or a mink coming down a tree. I also saw a scorpion...people don't realize that we have scorpions in Missouri but they like rocky places like a sunny glade or a rocky bluff top. The trail turns back into the woods and follows the north-facing slope where there are a ;lot of ferns mixed in with the fall colors. Eventually the trail recrosses the valley and then follows the lake shore back to the trail head.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 2

Monday and Tuesday....

The weather has been beautiful but a little cool. I decided to go back over to Ha-Ha-Tonka on Monday and hike some of the trails. I took the Boulder Ridge Trail first and went about a mile and a half on a loop trail. It was pretty rugged and rocky and I was surprised that they had a sign saying no bicycles on the trail...they would have to be carried over most of it. The Fall colors were in full display and the cool nights pretty much killed off most of the bugs that you would expect. The rocky outcrops were dolomite and they have weathered into very strange shapes. At one point I came across a small rock with two eye-sockets eroded into it and the way the sunlight hit it it looked like a small skull.....kind of creeped me out for a minute.

I took the Spring Trail which was also about a mile and a half. It went along the shore of the spring branch up past the island and into the gorge. There was once a mill there but all that is left is the mill dam. The trail hugs the rock wall on a

boardwalk. The spring flows out from under a rock wall at the head of the gorge. The trail then climbs 200 feet on an extensive boardwalk stairway to the top of the cliff and then finally winds its way back to the starting point. The climb is pretty exhausting and I was dressed too warmly so I was soaked by the time I got back to the car. It was a good day and I was a litle worried that my knee might give me trouble but it was fine.

I got back to the condo and relaxed. I made a stromboli for supper...the first time I tried that -- and it was great. Watched the Phillies beat the Dodgers in the NLCS in the evening.

On Tuesday I made a trip back home to cut the front grass and take care of Watson. He is really lonely and couldn't get enough scratches and rubs. I feel sorry for him....I wish I could have brought him along. Jill gave him food on Sunday but his dish was empty and he was almost out of water. I got the grass cut and cleaned out Watson's litter box. The house looks good and it smell nice. The sunny weather makes it look even better. Watson and I had lunch together on the deck and he got some snacks when I left.

I got back down to the lake around 3 PM and went over to Lake of the Ozarks State Park to check out the trails they have there. I walked one that goes through an area that they are trying to reestablish the native savanah that was the prehistoric type of vegetation that was common throughout the Ozarks. Now the common vegetation is a scrub-oak jungle that is almost impenetrable but the savanah was wide open with trees spaced about twenty feet apart.The trail also goes therogh a prairie area with Big Bluestem grass that is nearly five feet tall.

I spent some time at the lake picnic area and worked on a cedar walking stick that I want to use on my hikes. I got back to the condo around 5:30 and later made some chicken and vegetables for supper. There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight and I ought to be able to see it from my balcony.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 1

I scheduled a week vacation at a condo at Lake of the Ozarks starting October 16th as sort of a reward and transition for me getting my house on the market. I finally got just about everything major done and I have it officially on the market.

The condo is part of the Lodge of the Four Seasons complex and is big enough to sleep eight but I think that would be a little cramped if they were all adults. Jill came down on Friday and spent two nights but had to get back home for work on Monday.

Friday night we went out to Lil' Rizzos for supper and had a good time. The Lake area has changed so much since I last spent any time here. Lil' Rizzos has two locations now and neither one is where it used to be. We spent part of Saturday morning looking at an old photo album I found that had some of my dad's pictures from WWII when he was in Europe.

Saturday was a beautiful day and really the first full sunny day we have had in at least a week. We went over to Ha-Ha-Tonka State Park and looked at the castle ruins and hiked around a little. The castle dates from the early 1900s but it burned in 1942 and there is nothing left but the stone walls and the water tower. It sits on top of a rock bluff overlooking the Ha-Ha-Tonka Spring Branch that runs into the Niangua River arm of the lake. It must have been an impressive place because the ruins are still very impressive.

Ha-Ha-Tonka is actually a collapsed cave system that formed a deep canyon with steep rock walls, a natural bridge, springs and sink holes. It is one of the prime examples of karst geologic features in the US. We hiked along the trail to the natural bridge and made a short side trip to the water tower. The trail is actually a boardwalk for most of the way. The state spent thousands building wooden boardwalks throughout the park to enable people to access some of the difficult areas. Jill and I followed the trail to the natural bridge and then started climbing back up the hill. I lost my footing and stumbled on some wet rocks and banged my knee pretty bad. It was a hard walk back to the car but after I got back to the condo I got some ice on it and it was fine in a few hours.

Sunday morning we got a slow start but went over to Steak n Shake for a lunch and then Jill got on her way back home. I spent part of the afternoon at the outlet mall walking around and getting a few kitchen things I needed.