Fuzzy Fern Fiddle - head Fronds

Today I hiked 3.7 more miles of the Superior Hiking Trail. Look what caught my attention? Fabulous fuzzy fern fiddle head  fronds is what caught my attention. I heard spring peepers, chorus frogs, American toads and tree frogs. A barred owl was heard calling. For the first time this year I heard common yellowthroats and Veery's calling. I also heard oven birds and white crowned sparrows and blue jays and crows. Once along the trail I flushed a grouse and it scared me. Another time a yellow bellied sapsucker landed on a tree right next to me. The sapsucker looked at me, looked at the tree, and looked at me again. I thought it was begging to have it's picture taken. I looked down to enter the password on my phone to get the camera ready and the sapsucker flew off. As I hiked I met six people coming south.

When I got to this spot - where the foot trail leaves the snowmobile trail, I knew I had come 3.7 miles and it was time to head back to my car. I never saw any of those six people again. Maybe they had rides waiting for them at the Linsmore road trail head. After having walked both the footpath and the snowmobile trails I know I prefer the footpath. The trail is wide and sunny and often has soggy spots. Tricky footwork and careful planning is necessary to keep my feet dry. The footpath is narrow, scenic, shady, and has wooden slats over the soggy spots. My next hike will be from the Normanna road trail head to this very spot. The 3.2 mile hike will be all footpath.

There is a bridge on the trail covering the span over a Lester River tributary. I imagine snow mobile riders use this often in the winter.

But the bridge is in need of repair. A small child could fall through this bridge. If a snow mobile ski got caught in this hole there could be serious damage to the machine. Today was a nice day for a walk. The sky was cloudy but it did  not rain. The temperature was in the 50's but the high humidity made it feel warmer. Now I am up to 21.7 miles completed on this trail.