ABOUT THE PARK:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.03057, -78.63547
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Picnic Area #1 Parking
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TRAIL MAP:
HIKE DISTANCE: 3.5 miles
THE HIKE:
Drive 'n hike New Jersey to Missouri to help my mother who recently had hip replacement surgery. This is hike 1 of 2 on the day 1. Where I usually would drive 4 hours, hike 8-10 miles, then drive another 4 hours, I broke this down into shorter drives with two shorter hikes because of where I am with working my way back to full speed after my hip replacement surgery.
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I chose this park because it was supposed to be partly cloudy. It was until the moment I arrived. I waited about half an hour and the rain stopped.
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The hike around Shawnee Lake on the Lake Shore Trail starts with a road walk from the parking lot.
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Crossing two bridges ...
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... then a right towards the beach.
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The first sign confirming this is the way.
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Shawnee Lake
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Just beyond the beach the pavement ends and it is crushed gravel multi-use trail the rest of the way around.
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A proper trail sign.
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After a short stretch on a maintenance road ...
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... the trail turns right ...
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... and crosses the dam.
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View from the dam.
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Didn't know that common mergansers napped while floating in water.
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In the distance, one of the bridges we crossed at the beginning of the hike.
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Back at the parking lot.
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not a bad alternative to a rest stop. did you go in honor of Shawnee?
ReplyDeleteI kind of did go in honor of Shawnee. On so many trips to St. Louis over the past 20+ years I have driven under the bridge over the PA Turnpike where the sign said "Shawnee State Park" and I would always say, "Shawnee, someday we have to go to your park" and I never made it with her. But in a way I did because I still carry a vial of her ashes in my backpack.
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