Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Brainard Lake


Jo and I thought we'd follow the crowd and head on up to Brainard Lake, which is a very popular destination for hikers, snowshoers and cross-country skiers. Jo and I aren't used to uber-busy trailheads; we target the less-used trails whenever we can. We were planning on using the snowshoes, but it turned out that the trail was so well trodden, hiking boots were perfectley sufficient.
We actually decided to head away from Brainard Lake itself and picked on of the many paths that crisscrossed through the forests. The start of the trail was actually a road that we had to follow for about a mile or so before getting on the actual trail. Luckily, it was only a service road, so we didn't have to worry about cars, which kinda' spoils the experience a bit. LOTS of cross-country skiers, and we could see why. The road and trails were perfect for it.
I was hiking along, enjoying the day, when I came across a bridge. I heard a funny rumbling noise coming out from underneath it, so I stopped to take a look. Lo and behold, I saw a nasty, ill-tempered Jo Troll when I looked down. I hastily snapped this pic...
I've always heard that Jo Trolls are not nearly as mean as they make themselves out to be, so I decided to try to get a little closer to the rare creature. I cautiously inched a bit closer to the beastie. He looked very aggressive to me, but I decided to risk his anger to get a nice clear picture. As soon as he saw my camera, something very strange happened...

The Jo Troll's demeanor totally changed, and he quickly stopped snarling to strike me a sexy pose. It turns out that the only reason Jo Trolls are so angry all the time is because they don't feel people give them time to make love to the camera. Usually people snap a hasty picture and run away, not giving them any warning whatsoever that a photo is coming. If you ask it to "say cheese," a Jo Troll is actually quite amiable and willing to strike some pretty provocative poses.

After the Jo Troll, the road branched off into the woods, and the trail got narrower.

This was an interesting trail because it went waaaaaay back into the woods, so it would take quite a bit of time to actually get to an end destination. We weren't planning on getting to an end-point; we just wanted to get as far as we could, then turn around and loop back to the car.


One of the best things about a well-populated trail such as this one is all the dogs that come out to hike with their masters. Trail dogs are some of the happiest dogs in the world, in my opinion, and it is so fun to watch such a happy dog as it runs around in the snow, sniffing everything with a wagging tail, just as dogs should do.












We eventually did turn around, then hit a trail that would loop us back around to the car. I liked the trail well enough, but both of us definitely prefer a trail which isn't as populated. More trees and less people is a good thing.
On the way back, we couldn't resist snapping some pics of the dilapidated old mountain town of Ward. Not much going on here, for sure.


And there were more abandoned cars along the side of the road than I've ever seen in a town. A few parting shots of just a sampling of some of the ol' rust buckets...




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