April 17th Foothills Trail

 On Friday, April 17th, we completed the Foothills Trail at Table Rock State Park.  On this day, we slack-packed instead of backpacking.  That means lighter packs and ideally easier hiking.  There was a fair amount of rough terrain, lighter packs made a positive difference for me.  This was our longest mileage day at around 15 miles.  

We began hiking before the sun rose and finished about an hour and a half before it set.

We saw the most mammals today.  A couple of deer ran off in the distance fairly early in the hike.  There were more squirrels in this section of the hike.  Toward the end of the trail, about 1/4 mile from the Table Rock Nature Center, we saw two black bear cubs. 

For a change, I was in front of Stephanie as we got close to the end of this adventure. So I spotted the bear cubs.  They were absolutely adorable!  I saw them, stopped, took three steps back and let Stephanie know.  When I first saw them, they were on the ground about to cross the path.   They saw me and started scurrying up the tree.  That is when I was able to get a picture (not great ones).  I sing-songed something like, "Hi bears!  We are just passing through.  Don't worry Mama Bear, your babies are safe in the tree, we'll just walk on by."  And we walked by and kept going.  We never saw Mama Bear.  

Unfortunately, maybe 0.1 miles from the end, I hurt my foot.  Maybe I should say, re-hurt it.  It has been three or four years and it has bothered me on occasion since then.  Now I'm limping.  No worries, I'll be fine.

Pictures---

We started before the sun rose. 




It didn't take long for the sun to rise.

Trillium




So close to done.

Where am I?








Maybe Blue-Eyed grass?


Pretty sure this is honeysuckle. 


Mayapple in bloom.








If you look close, you may be able to see the bear cub just starting to climb the tree with the green/yellow/white blaze.  The sibling was already on the other side.

Cropped of the cub.

If you look close, you can maybe see the two cubs behind the leaves.
Of the group of three trees, the one on the left.



We did it!!

Silena is awesome and picked us up!

Sunset from the cabin.

☮

Continued reading: No Time Like the Past, by Jodi Taylor.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!



Comments

  1. --K.April 19, 2026 at 1:34 AM

    Beautiful pics of the mountain vistas and wildflowers. The cubs are so tiny and cute! Mama Bear can't have been very far away; I am glad she trusted you to walk on by.

    ReplyDelete

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