Nearby the AntCave, lies a vast acreage of state natural reserve. Since the tornado a number of years ago left some of this twisted and frankly ugly, we have stuck to the roads for our rides. Recently though, both man and nature has brought back some of the areas beauty. Where once hidden bluffs covered by the tall oaks and pines became gnarled cliffs riddled with dead wood, now there are grassy plains with exposed rock formations. Yes there are still quite a few stumps and some brush piles, but I think this to be an improvement over what was overgrown before. The old tall trees are missed of course, but even they were being choked by the underbrush.
Thank goodness for GPS. Since it is literally a network of trails, it is easy to lose track of where you are. We have almost mapped out an entry point to an exit winding across the entire reserve. This includes a portion that travels over a dyke bordering a lake and fish hatchery, and also passing by a historically marked short knobby bluff with a cave. The exit (or entrance from the western side) is through a rise at the front of another bluff. There is parking on either side, but no motorized traffic allowed on the path. The only worry is that on wet years there is a part of the trail that may be under water. This is from memory of years past, and since, the state has built up some of the trail for their own vehicle access.
Along parts of the trail is a few badger dens. Strewn with the bones of fish and roots, they are both interesting and scary. A badger will normally stay clear of people, but being that close to their door, it is possible to get a angry badger taking a swipe at the ankles while passing by. I’m sure with more traffic, they will just move a little farther off the trail, and everyone is happy.
The other wildlife is fun. Deer, turkeys, ducks, geese, cranes, and all the little fuzzy things make themselves seen out of curiosity to watch the bikes go by. A few of the squirrels and chipmunks in the branches above toss acorns at us as we ride underneath them. Thank goodness for helmets.
More Pics will go up on the back road bike blog once we take an official club ride through the reserve. Before this, I still have to verify some of the property borders and access rights to the trail.
These Pics are just of the front end section of the dyke area by the lake. By the time we had reached farther in the reserve my battery charge was near gone, and I was not prepared for in ride charging. Hopefully on the official ride our photographers can capture some better images for the group blog, and I will steal a few to post up here. With any luck maybe a few of the critters will pose for us in a nonaggressive fashion, unlike my great turkey fiasco from a few years ago. I have also had a run in with a badger charging me, a crane trying to attack my car, a fawn licking my car headlight, a herd of dairy cows crossing a pasture to watch me take a break by the roadside, and a friendly chicken roosting on my car roof, but that is another blog post for later.
