Miami Woods Revisited

I went back to Miami Woods first to find out what animal made that scat (refer to my previous blog post) and second to test my new hobo stove.

While walking on the trail, I saw this.



And this.


So I guess this is the animal who made that scat. Do you agree?


I brought with me (from top left clockwise) my water bottle and a stainless cup, hobo stove, Gatorade, pear, 3-in-1 coffee in plastic container, shopping bag, knife, plastic spoon, macaroons, a slice of cake. Dried twigs on the bottom left are fuel for the hobo stove. I just pick them up from the grounds, some I broke off from the trees.


Boiling water for my coffee using the hobo stove. It took 8 minutes for the water to come to a boil. The hobo stove performed satisfactorily but I guess I need to make a cover for the cup to speed up the boiling process.


Coffee ready to drink.


A nice sip of coffee on a cool morning to unwind after an overnight shift.


The KA-BAR Adventure Piggyback with the handle wrap in paracord. The knife is now more comfortable in my hands.

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

Miami Woods and KA-BAR Adventure Piggyback

My first stroll into the woods for the year 2012.


Miami Woods is part of North Branch Trail and is located along Caldwell Avenue. I pass this on my way and going home from work. And today, I decided to stop and take a short walk.


Trees are beginning to look green with leaves but many are still bare.


This is part of the North Branch of the Chicago River.


I wonder what this is but I sure could use it to test my hobo stove next time I visit.


Another strange object to me. A scat of an unknown animal. Anybody could tell me what animal?


And here's the KA-BAR Adventure Piggyback.



That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

River Trail Nature Center

After 4 consecutive weekends of biking with my son, it's time to take the wife for a short walk. We visited the River Trail Nature Center of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Here are some pictures we took.


Des Plaines River swollen after the previous day's rain.




Watchmen's house in the woods.

Some of the flowers you will find in the Nature Center.








And part of the museum.







The Nature Center is a nice place for young and old to learn about native plants and animals. Be sure to bring insect repellant though or else the mosquitos might carry you away.

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

Harms Woods

Tuesday, April 22 is our day-off from taking care of our grandson so my wife and I decided to hike Harms Woods, a part of North Branch Trail System. Since we're both in the late 50's and not in the tip-top condition, we thought we would hike only a total of 4 miles.

Satellite photo of Harms Woods.


Map of the North Branch Trail System.

We hiked first the Brown Trail (see map) which is 1.1 miles and then 2 miles more or less of Yellow Trail, one way. So actually we did a total of 6 miles to and fro - not bad for a start.


Start of the Brown Trail.


Horseback Riders.


These trees look bare yet but soon I'm sure they would look great.

Trail marker.

I brought food and water in my bag, and of course my possibles pouch which would be the topic of my next post.

We really did enjoy our short hike.

That's all folks! Thanks for reading.