Hike to Lee Falls

Today's trip started a little differently. We stopped at a GeoCache site on the way to our hike. After we found it and took a travel bug with us, we were on our way again.

Our next stop was not a planned one. We drove past a small box turtle in the road. We stopped, but our motives for stopping were different. I wanted to stop and see a turtle and get him out of the road. Cari wanted to keep him. Cari was determined that she should keep him. I questioned her on where she would keep it while we hiked for the afternoon and after a few minutes she released the critter. I had written detailed notes last night so we could find this spot easily. The trail to Lee Falls is not an official trail and doesn't have any markings. My last direction said to turn right, onto government road 715A. Drive 1/2 mile and park on the right just before the bridge.

I turned onto 715, drove 1/2 mile and parked just before the bridge. The next note on my paper said to head North through a field. There was no field where we were. I convinced Cari to hike into the woods with me. I held the GPS and was looking for a trail. Any bare spot between trees became my "trail". It just didn't feel right. Cari suggested driving up the road further, but I wanted to try one more time. After thirty minutes tramping through the woods, I gave up. I suggested we drive a few miles to the state park and ask a ranger. When we got back in the car, Cari once again suggested driving up the road a bit more. We did, and then I saw 715A. I had turned on 715. We turned onto 715A and drove 1/2 a mile, parking on the edge of a field just before the bridge. I caused us to waste about an hour of hike time. Taking it slow just went out the window. We normally take a picnic at eat at the falls. No time for that today.

The trail was awesome. Walking through three fields, crossing several creeks, and a thirty minute walk in the woods takes you to a very rocky creek. We climbed the rocks and got to the top of a hill where we were able to stand and admire this beautiful scene.

The GPS came in handy for sure today. The trail was not always clear on the way out. Looking how we came in made a difference. We also used it earlier when I was trying my hardest to get us lost in the woods off the wrong road. In my defense, it was odd that there was a bridge 1/2 mile up on 715 and 715A. If the bridge wasn't on 715, I might have caught my mistake earlier.

On the way out, we were talking about what a great hike it is and how beautiful it all is. Then Cari mentioned her pet turtle again. I agreed if it was in the road again, that she could keep it as a pet. We have a dog named Turtle. We talked about if we had a turtle, we would name it, "dog".

There were no turtles in the road going home.