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Friday Aug 21, 2020 #
Note
Aiming to start hiking the La Cloche Silhouette loop around 4:45 am - yikes! Cloudy forecast with low chance of rain but slippery, wet rock after yesterday’s weather. We’re hiking so we’ll be slow. See GPS link in yesterday’s entry.
4 AM
Trekking 27:03:27 [3] 79.89 km (20:19 / km) +2945m 17:10 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross Pro - Red
La Cloche Silhouette Trail
Killarney Provincial Park
At the last minute, Richard and I decided to do a non-stop hike on the 80 km La Cloche Silhouette trail in Killarney Provincial Park. I'd hoped to do it as an epic milestone birthday adventure but couldn't find a campsite last weekend. This week the stars aligned when Richard had Thursday and Friday off work, and Killarney Mountain Lodge had an opening on Thursday night.
Coincidentally, a bunch of adventure racer friends were running the trail on Thursday. Sean Roper, Chris Laughren, Chad Spence and Greg Critchley went clockwise while Denise Rispolie, Nicole Johnson and Audrey Kelly went counterclockwise. We didn't see them but we followed the men's GPS tracker and chatted with Chris' and Chad's families, who were staying at the lodge.
Our alarms went off at 3:30 a.m. We guzzled lukewarm coffee with a cold breakfast sandwich and a tasty scone. We were still full from last night's fish and chips feast at the Killarney wharf.
We parked in the George Lake campground lot near the western trailhead. Yesterday we'd picked up two park day passes for today and tomorrow. Starting at 4:49 a.m., we hiked 2 km across the campground to the eastern trailhead. When we did this 5 years ago, we made a wrong turn in the dark campground so I brought a map this time. (I'm including details like this in case we ever do it again.)
The early kilometres of the trail are relatively easy to travel in the dark. It rained yesterday so I was paranoid about the extremely slippery rock (quartz with lichen?) that we had to learn to avoid last time after a few hard falls. We learned to identify it again and steered clear.
I rolled my left ankle partway at the 5 km mark and it was less stable after that. (This was not the first rodeo for that ankle.) Between that and my injured right heel, my feet weren't always happy. But two days after the hike, my feet just felt a bit sore - the same as they would after a 1-hour run these days. That was encouraging - sort of.
Speaking of feet, I haven't used them for long distances in 2020. When we did the loop five years ago, it was a few weeks after the Eiger Ultra Trail 101K so we'd been training hard for months with lots of climbing. This time I hoped that endurance, stubbornness, experience and a little strength training would be enough. There are no easy bail-out options on the loop.
We passed by the "cliff" portage between Kakakise and Killarney Lakes. We did this in both directions with the Grant/Harrison and Lucente/Smith families earlier this month.
We climbed up to The Crack for the 2nd time this month but only the 3rd time in my life - spectacular. We saw ominous clouds that threatened us for most of the morning but we didn't have a drop of rain while we were on the trail.
A day hiker arrived at the viewpoint - the first person we'd seen in 3 hours. Except around Silver Peak, it was rare to see anyone. They all struck up a conversation and asked our destination. One man gently corrected us and asked his question again: "Oh, *everyone* is doing the whole loop! I was asking where you're camping tonight."
The east side of the loop took us past high viewpoints, turquoise lakes and white quartzite ridges.
We took a break at the Heaven Lake campsite, which has a terrific view and would be nice to stay at. My ankle started to turn again on a downhill-sloping rock slab and I managed to save the ankle and turn it into a Superman dive with extra momentum from my heavy pack. I bruised and scraped my right forearm and knee but kept my head up.
In many places along the trail, it took a moment to figure out where to go next - especially on open rock or in the dark. We were always able to see the previous blue trail marker or rock cairn but sometimes we had to look around for the next one. The trail sometimes drops off the edge of a cliff so it's not always obvious. For example, the trail continues straight down past this cairn. That wasn't our first guess.
This is what it looks like from the other side.
When we went off-trail for a viewpoint or water refill, we were careful to turn in the correct direction upon our return. An early difference of opinion made us hyper-aware that a mistake was possible.
It's not all quartzite ridges!
We drank and refilled water frequently, remembering that the trail sometimes goes long distances between good water sources. We both had 2L bladders and soft flasks with filters for quick purification. Our packs were stuffed with gear in case one of us got injured and needed to wait for rescue in the rain. They were probably 16-18 lb at the start. This made it hard to refill our 2L bladders. If we ever do this sort of thing again, I think I'd take my 30L pack. It doesn't fit snugly but it's fine for hiking and there would be more space to refill the bladder and stuff in headlamps, food and extra layers. My 20L pack just barely held everything but it took time to put it back together if I needed to open it.
That's Silver Peak in the background.
In the area of Silver Peak, one woman asked, "Did you see the bear that the other people saw on the trail?" We'd come from a different direction so our answer didn't reassure her. We made noise as we traveled, especially in the dark. Killarney has a healthy bear population and we didn't want to meet one this time.
Between Silver Peak and David Lake, we marveled that we had hiked there with 5-year-old Aubrey Grant (and her parents) a few years ago. Maybe it's because we were tired but the route seemed very long and rugged. It's a wonder she ever agreed to canoe with us again.
I remembered the Hansen Township section as my favourite part of the trail - long, open ridges with sweeping views on both sides. Somehow I failed to remember the repeated steep descents and climbs in between the open ridges. This section included a lot of the elevation gain of the route. But the views were as wonderful as I remembered.
Approaching Little Mountain Lake, we stopped at Kahlua Rock - the spectacular viewpoint where Heather Brown, Richard and I stopped for Happy Hour shots in 2015. (It was my birthday party, after all!) As we descended, we reached the viewpoint where we picked blueberries with the Grant/Harrison family in 2017. And as we got lower, we remembered hiking with our late dogs, Tobler and Mocha. So many good memories in Killarney. :)
We got water at Little Mountain Lake.
I saw two people in lawn chairs watching us but I knew they were a hallucination. When I get sleepy, my brain sometimes invents people and structures in the wilderness.
The ascent west of Little Mountain Lake is probably the most intense rock scrambling along the trail although it has competition. The views toward Little Mountain Lake and Great Mountain Lake - where we've canoe-camped a few times - were gorgeous.
After this, we tried to move quickly to use the last bit of daylight. I remembered an unnerving cliff climb in the dark last time - especially stressful because my headlamp died partway up then restarted again. I didn't know if it was possible to get there before dark but if so, we could complete all of the most technical parts of the trail in daylight. First, the trail went down a steep waterfall - yes, right through the waterfall. On the trail marker at the bottom, someone had written, "Seriously?!" :) It was dim enough in the forest to turn on our lights. I missed seeing a ramp of Slippery Rock and landed hard on my right hip. Big bruise but no other harm done.
Then we arrived at the cliff climb I remembered with just enough light to see what we were doing. It was still insane but a little less insane than it had felt in the dark. We were in such a hurry through this section that I didn't get my camera out to document any of these final obstacles.
We had a sunset view south over Three Narrows Lake - or as we called it, "All Night Lake" because it would take hours to descend and wind our way through the forest past its arms.
After the 50 km mark, the terrain got easier - like a normal trail in a rocky area. There were short cliffy climbs and descents but nothing too difficult. A lot of the trail traveled through forest that is probably beautiful by day but got monotonous at night. After our last La Cloche hike, I'd said I probably didn't need to do the last 30 km of the trail in the dark again but I have a short memory for such things! No photos - it was dark.
We'd had two short nights of sleep leading up to this and our brains became lulled by the rhythm of walking. We stopped for several 10-minute catnaps but only Richard slept. I may have drifted off for a few minutes at one stop; I'm not sure. The Pig Portage woke me up because I needed to negotiate the rocks. I was also energized knowing that we were near the end.
The last part of the trail is lovely, especially at sunrise - little lakes, beaver dams, towering forest, mist and a final ridge climb. By the last 2 km, I was staggering like a tired zombie. I couldn't wait to nap in the car then go for takeout breakfast from the Gateway Restaurant in Killarney.
We made it! So happy, so worn out and so ready to clean up and sleep for a while. :)
Officially, this was our PB on the loop by 1 hour so it met my criteria for a milestone birthday outing - doing something difficult in this decade that I hadn’t done before. To be fair, in 2015 we went swimming and enjoyed Happy Hour and birthday cake so there probably wasn't much difference in pace. But in this weird year, I’ll take it!
After breakfast, we drove to the Waddtage in Nobel to lie on Mike and Starr's deck on our blankets and pillows while we had a distanced chat. Opportunities to see friends in person have become so precious.
Also precious was the chance to have this adventure on short notice with my husband and partner in crime. One of our friends died in a vehicle crash recently and we spent a lot of time on the trail thinking about her, her husband and family, and how important it is to appreciate people in our lives.
It would seem strange to do 80 km on foot and not claim a challenge in the Summer Scavenger Hunt so I decided that with almost 3,000 meters of climb, this could count as my Vert badge.
Killarney Provincial Park
At the last minute, Richard and I decided to do a non-stop hike on the 80 km La Cloche Silhouette trail in Killarney Provincial Park. I'd hoped to do it as an epic milestone birthday adventure but couldn't find a campsite last weekend. This week the stars aligned when Richard had Thursday and Friday off work, and Killarney Mountain Lodge had an opening on Thursday night.
Coincidentally, a bunch of adventure racer friends were running the trail on Thursday. Sean Roper, Chris Laughren, Chad Spence and Greg Critchley went clockwise while Denise Rispolie, Nicole Johnson and Audrey Kelly went counterclockwise. We didn't see them but we followed the men's GPS tracker and chatted with Chris' and Chad's families, who were staying at the lodge.
Our alarms went off at 3:30 a.m. We guzzled lukewarm coffee with a cold breakfast sandwich and a tasty scone. We were still full from last night's fish and chips feast at the Killarney wharf.
We parked in the George Lake campground lot near the western trailhead. Yesterday we'd picked up two park day passes for today and tomorrow. Starting at 4:49 a.m., we hiked 2 km across the campground to the eastern trailhead. When we did this 5 years ago, we made a wrong turn in the dark campground so I brought a map this time. (I'm including details like this in case we ever do it again.)
The early kilometres of the trail are relatively easy to travel in the dark. It rained yesterday so I was paranoid about the extremely slippery rock (quartz with lichen?) that we had to learn to avoid last time after a few hard falls. We learned to identify it again and steered clear.
I rolled my left ankle partway at the 5 km mark and it was less stable after that. (This was not the first rodeo for that ankle.) Between that and my injured right heel, my feet weren't always happy. But two days after the hike, my feet just felt a bit sore - the same as they would after a 1-hour run these days. That was encouraging - sort of.
Speaking of feet, I haven't used them for long distances in 2020. When we did the loop five years ago, it was a few weeks after the Eiger Ultra Trail 101K so we'd been training hard for months with lots of climbing. This time I hoped that endurance, stubbornness, experience and a little strength training would be enough. There are no easy bail-out options on the loop.
We passed by the "cliff" portage between Kakakise and Killarney Lakes. We did this in both directions with the Grant/Harrison and Lucente/Smith families earlier this month.
We climbed up to The Crack for the 2nd time this month but only the 3rd time in my life - spectacular. We saw ominous clouds that threatened us for most of the morning but we didn't have a drop of rain while we were on the trail.
A day hiker arrived at the viewpoint - the first person we'd seen in 3 hours. Except around Silver Peak, it was rare to see anyone. They all struck up a conversation and asked our destination. One man gently corrected us and asked his question again: "Oh, *everyone* is doing the whole loop! I was asking where you're camping tonight."
The east side of the loop took us past high viewpoints, turquoise lakes and white quartzite ridges.
We took a break at the Heaven Lake campsite, which has a terrific view and would be nice to stay at. My ankle started to turn again on a downhill-sloping rock slab and I managed to save the ankle and turn it into a Superman dive with extra momentum from my heavy pack. I bruised and scraped my right forearm and knee but kept my head up.
In many places along the trail, it took a moment to figure out where to go next - especially on open rock or in the dark. We were always able to see the previous blue trail marker or rock cairn but sometimes we had to look around for the next one. The trail sometimes drops off the edge of a cliff so it's not always obvious. For example, the trail continues straight down past this cairn. That wasn't our first guess.
This is what it looks like from the other side.
When we went off-trail for a viewpoint or water refill, we were careful to turn in the correct direction upon our return. An early difference of opinion made us hyper-aware that a mistake was possible.
It's not all quartzite ridges!
We drank and refilled water frequently, remembering that the trail sometimes goes long distances between good water sources. We both had 2L bladders and soft flasks with filters for quick purification. Our packs were stuffed with gear in case one of us got injured and needed to wait for rescue in the rain. They were probably 16-18 lb at the start. This made it hard to refill our 2L bladders. If we ever do this sort of thing again, I think I'd take my 30L pack. It doesn't fit snugly but it's fine for hiking and there would be more space to refill the bladder and stuff in headlamps, food and extra layers. My 20L pack just barely held everything but it took time to put it back together if I needed to open it.
That's Silver Peak in the background.
In the area of Silver Peak, one woman asked, "Did you see the bear that the other people saw on the trail?" We'd come from a different direction so our answer didn't reassure her. We made noise as we traveled, especially in the dark. Killarney has a healthy bear population and we didn't want to meet one this time.
Between Silver Peak and David Lake, we marveled that we had hiked there with 5-year-old Aubrey Grant (and her parents) a few years ago. Maybe it's because we were tired but the route seemed very long and rugged. It's a wonder she ever agreed to canoe with us again.
I remembered the Hansen Township section as my favourite part of the trail - long, open ridges with sweeping views on both sides. Somehow I failed to remember the repeated steep descents and climbs in between the open ridges. This section included a lot of the elevation gain of the route. But the views were as wonderful as I remembered.
Approaching Little Mountain Lake, we stopped at Kahlua Rock - the spectacular viewpoint where Heather Brown, Richard and I stopped for Happy Hour shots in 2015. (It was my birthday party, after all!) As we descended, we reached the viewpoint where we picked blueberries with the Grant/Harrison family in 2017. And as we got lower, we remembered hiking with our late dogs, Tobler and Mocha. So many good memories in Killarney. :)
We got water at Little Mountain Lake.
I saw two people in lawn chairs watching us but I knew they were a hallucination. When I get sleepy, my brain sometimes invents people and structures in the wilderness.
The ascent west of Little Mountain Lake is probably the most intense rock scrambling along the trail although it has competition. The views toward Little Mountain Lake and Great Mountain Lake - where we've canoe-camped a few times - were gorgeous.
After this, we tried to move quickly to use the last bit of daylight. I remembered an unnerving cliff climb in the dark last time - especially stressful because my headlamp died partway up then restarted again. I didn't know if it was possible to get there before dark but if so, we could complete all of the most technical parts of the trail in daylight. First, the trail went down a steep waterfall - yes, right through the waterfall. On the trail marker at the bottom, someone had written, "Seriously?!" :) It was dim enough in the forest to turn on our lights. I missed seeing a ramp of Slippery Rock and landed hard on my right hip. Big bruise but no other harm done.
Then we arrived at the cliff climb I remembered with just enough light to see what we were doing. It was still insane but a little less insane than it had felt in the dark. We were in such a hurry through this section that I didn't get my camera out to document any of these final obstacles.
We had a sunset view south over Three Narrows Lake - or as we called it, "All Night Lake" because it would take hours to descend and wind our way through the forest past its arms.
After the 50 km mark, the terrain got easier - like a normal trail in a rocky area. There were short cliffy climbs and descents but nothing too difficult. A lot of the trail traveled through forest that is probably beautiful by day but got monotonous at night. After our last La Cloche hike, I'd said I probably didn't need to do the last 30 km of the trail in the dark again but I have a short memory for such things! No photos - it was dark.
We'd had two short nights of sleep leading up to this and our brains became lulled by the rhythm of walking. We stopped for several 10-minute catnaps but only Richard slept. I may have drifted off for a few minutes at one stop; I'm not sure. The Pig Portage woke me up because I needed to negotiate the rocks. I was also energized knowing that we were near the end.
The last part of the trail is lovely, especially at sunrise - little lakes, beaver dams, towering forest, mist and a final ridge climb. By the last 2 km, I was staggering like a tired zombie. I couldn't wait to nap in the car then go for takeout breakfast from the Gateway Restaurant in Killarney.
We made it! So happy, so worn out and so ready to clean up and sleep for a while. :)
Officially, this was our PB on the loop by 1 hour so it met my criteria for a milestone birthday outing - doing something difficult in this decade that I hadn’t done before. To be fair, in 2015 we went swimming and enjoyed Happy Hour and birthday cake so there probably wasn't much difference in pace. But in this weird year, I’ll take it!
After breakfast, we drove to the Waddtage in Nobel to lie on Mike and Starr's deck on our blankets and pillows while we had a distanced chat. Opportunities to see friends in person have become so precious.
Also precious was the chance to have this adventure on short notice with my husband and partner in crime. One of our friends died in a vehicle crash recently and we spent a lot of time on the trail thinking about her, her husband and family, and how important it is to appreciate people in our lives.
It would seem strange to do 80 km on foot and not claim a challenge in the Summer Scavenger Hunt so I decided that with almost 3,000 meters of climb, this could count as my Vert badge.
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020 #
Note
From early Friday into Saturday, 'Bent and I hope to hike the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. If anyone wants to dot watch, this is the link. Password is Killarney.
https://share.garmin.com/mapshare/BarbCampbell/Map...
https://share.garmin.com/mapshare/BarbCampbell/Map...
5 PM
Mountain Biking (Single Track) 1:22:17 [3] 14.32 km (10.4 kph) +102m
A while ago, I looked at a map of Ontario mountain bike trails and noticed the GORBA network in Guelph. It's only an hour away and I'd never been there. It also looked like a great place to meet Funderstorm. She said she often rides there so we made a plan to meet. Browner signed up too. It was great to see them both for the first time in many months!
The trails are flowy with nice berms, a fair number of roots and (mostly) gentle climbs and descents. They're well maintained and have lots of intersections so it would be an interesting place for mountain bike orienteering.
We had a nice chatty ride with a few stops. I hadn't seen Guelph Lake from that side before. It would be great to have it closer by.
Afterward, Funderstorm and Browner laid out a distanced birthday picnic in Riverside Park - lovely! It was wonderful to share stories and eat yummy food together in the cool evening air. I've missed these ladies.
The trails are flowy with nice berms, a fair number of roots and (mostly) gentle climbs and descents. They're well maintained and have lots of intersections so it would be an interesting place for mountain bike orienteering.
We had a nice chatty ride with a few stops. I hadn't seen Guelph Lake from that side before. It would be great to have it closer by.
Afterward, Funderstorm and Browner laid out a distanced birthday picnic in Riverside Park - lovely! It was wonderful to share stories and eat yummy food together in the cool evening air. I've missed these ladies.
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020 #
9 AM
Mountain Biking (Single Track) 1:32:01 [3] 18.86 km (12.3 kph) +314m
Eric D'Arcy, race director of 5 Peaks and Crazy Cat Adventures (including le Purr de France), came up for a tour of the Palgrave trails. It was my first "non-bubble" bike ride since the pandemic started. It's not that I've been holding off this long; I almost always ride alone anyway.
Eric and I had only met once briefly in real life so there was lots to chat about. I tried to kill him by stopping suddenly when I failed to make it over a big root step on an uphill hairpin turn. He survived the fall and forgave me. Other than that, it was a fun ride and a good tour!
I could see the weather starting to turn on my ride home.
Eric and I had only met once briefly in real life so there was lots to chat about. I tried to kill him by stopping suddenly when I failed to make it over a big root step on an uphill hairpin turn. He survived the fall and forgave me. Other than that, it was a fun ride and a good tour!
I could see the weather starting to turn on my ride home.
11 AM
Mountain Biking (Single Track) 8:38 [3] 1.9 km (13.2 kph) +46m
I accidentally turned off my Ambit at the Duffy's Lane parking lot. This is the ride home.
Monday Aug 17, 2020 #
Note
A local journalist who is one of 'Bent's patients wrote a great article about the new normal at the Elm Tree Dental Clinic.
https://justsayincaledon.com/coping-with-covid-thr...
https://justsayincaledon.com/coping-with-covid-thr...
Sunday Aug 16, 2020 #
Note
We finished all 10 Eco-Challenge shows tonight. Now I don't have to worry about avoiding spoilers! I really enjoyed the series. It's not remotely close to the experience of dot watching a regular adventure race but that's not what Eco is about. It's been great to see enthusiasm from the general public on social media - just what we'd hoped for.
3 PM
Mountain Biking (Trail) 3:15:25 [3] 60.77 km (18.7 kph) +259m
I like a good birthday adventure - a long hike, the World Rogaine Championship, the Untamed New England expedition adventure race, a mountain scramble, etc. But like everything else, the pandemic got in the way this year.
As a backup plan, I decided to do 60+ km on a trail on foot. (I had to do a long distance since I can't set a speed goal like Trav did with such impressive success!) First choice was the La Cloche Silhouette trail but Killarney's campsites were all booked for the night before. Second choice was to drive north and run home 60 km on the Bruce Trail and Oak Ridges Trail. 'Bent and Goose were lined up to join me for that but today's forecast still included a risk of strong storms as of last night so I decided to postpone.
That left us with no plans other than finishing our Eco-Challenge binge and continuing to eat the amazing brownie cake that Crash had made. Luckily - or perhaps unluckily - we never had the thunderstorms that were in the forecast. It was too late for the trail run so 'Bent and I went for a ride - mostly on the rail trail with detours into Ken Whillans Conservation Area, the Richard Whitehead Memorial Trail and Palgrave Forest.
We finished with 'Bent's Covid Crusher single track and rode an extra loop around our yard to make sure that 'Bent's bike computer registered over 60 km too. Then we replenished all the calories and probably a few more. :)
As a backup plan, I decided to do 60+ km on a trail on foot. (I had to do a long distance since I can't set a speed goal like Trav did with such impressive success!) First choice was the La Cloche Silhouette trail but Killarney's campsites were all booked for the night before. Second choice was to drive north and run home 60 km on the Bruce Trail and Oak Ridges Trail. 'Bent and Goose were lined up to join me for that but today's forecast still included a risk of strong storms as of last night so I decided to postpone.
That left us with no plans other than finishing our Eco-Challenge binge and continuing to eat the amazing brownie cake that Crash had made. Luckily - or perhaps unluckily - we never had the thunderstorms that were in the forecast. It was too late for the trail run so 'Bent and I went for a ride - mostly on the rail trail with detours into Ken Whillans Conservation Area, the Richard Whitehead Memorial Trail and Palgrave Forest.
We finished with 'Bent's Covid Crusher single track and rode an extra loop around our yard to make sure that 'Bent's bike computer registered over 60 km too. Then we replenished all the calories and probably a few more. :)
Saturday Aug 15, 2020 #
9 AM
Paddling (Canoe) 1:45:33 [1] 10.15 km (5.8 kph)
'Bent, AdventureDog and I planned to meet Goose and Coach LD for a morning paddle but as we arrived a few minutes early, they texted to say they were already on the water. Hmm, strange. They also said there was an envelope for me stuck on a sign by the boat launch.
When I opened it, I found a card containing Clue #1. Ah, now it made sense! Instead of a regular paddle, we set off on a pre-birthday canoe scavenger hunt. Inspired by Eco-Challenge, Coach LD had "medallions" (CDs) at the 5 checkpoints. There was also a small gift at each CP and a clue - written as a poem - for the next CP. Very clever and it meant they had to arrive early and sneak around different parts of the lake. Coach LD described sinking in mud over her knees, while Goose had to scale a wall quickly because he was afraid we would see him returning from hanging a medallion.
The first medallion had a task - doing yoga on a big stage by the beach. The unexpected twist for all of us was that an actual yoga class was about to start on the stage. Coach explained my quest to the leader so I ran up there quickly, did a pose and returned to pick up my clue.
There were 4 more clues/gifts that took us back and forth and ensured that we saw most of the lake. This is what I was looking for. The treat in the first photo was a bag of home-grown cherry tomatoes hidden in the jar marked with flagging tape. Mmm.
Then we went to a grassy area where we found gorgeous flowers, Coach LD's yummy, homemade brownies, and refreshments that may or may not have been permitted in a park.
Thank you for the early celebration, Coach LD and Goose! :)
When I opened it, I found a card containing Clue #1. Ah, now it made sense! Instead of a regular paddle, we set off on a pre-birthday canoe scavenger hunt. Inspired by Eco-Challenge, Coach LD had "medallions" (CDs) at the 5 checkpoints. There was also a small gift at each CP and a clue - written as a poem - for the next CP. Very clever and it meant they had to arrive early and sneak around different parts of the lake. Coach LD described sinking in mud over her knees, while Goose had to scale a wall quickly because he was afraid we would see him returning from hanging a medallion.
The first medallion had a task - doing yoga on a big stage by the beach. The unexpected twist for all of us was that an actual yoga class was about to start on the stage. Coach explained my quest to the leader so I ran up there quickly, did a pose and returned to pick up my clue.
There were 4 more clues/gifts that took us back and forth and ensured that we saw most of the lake. This is what I was looking for. The treat in the first photo was a bag of home-grown cherry tomatoes hidden in the jar marked with flagging tape. Mmm.
Then we went to a grassy area where we found gorgeous flowers, Coach LD's yummy, homemade brownies, and refreshments that may or may not have been permitted in a park.
Thank you for the early celebration, Coach LD and Goose! :)