Turning right on Pleasant Plains Road from the parking lot.
It's a gravel road, somewhat chunky gravel but not all that unpleasant to walk on.
A huge old tree down.
And another old tree down.
I was surprised at how many cars were driving along on a 27 degree day in the dead of winter with really no wildlife to be seen on the wildlife tour. When they actually went 15 miles per hour it wasn't that bad but some inconsiderate clods sped by and this is what that looked like.
Coming up on the overlook to the right.
This is where all those cars go.
Nobody home at the overlook today.
Continuing on ...
... a pond on the left ...
... with a balloon way over at the other end.
A woods road would have led to that balloon and I totally would have gone to get it but as is the case with many of the federal wildlife refuges, area closed (and there are lots of those) means area closed so couldn't go there to get the balloon.
Coming up on a bridge over ...
Great Brook
After the bridge the road becomes paved but my 1-mile alert dinged on my app so time to turn back. The 2.6 miles I did the weekend before was a bit too much too soon so I needed to back it down to 2 miles and no more for now.
Heading back through the north gate.
Some wildlife! A red-tailed hawk.
I lost sight of him when he flew into a different tree.
But he changed trees once more so I got to see him show off his red tail.
ABOUT THE PARK: Cheesequake State Park - New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
This park charges an entrance fee between Memorial Day and Labor Day
It's been 7 1/2 weeks since total hip replacement surgery. I have been doing a lot of doctor ordered walking but sidewalks get old fast. Time for a little hike. I am not using a cane at all any more and there is just a little bit of a limp at times but it gets better every day. I am still not allowed on trails so I need to stay on smooth surfaces. The trails in this park are too insanely crowded anyway. As an alternative, we did a family hike on a stroller-friendly loop of paved and packed sand roads and paths where there weren't nearly as many people and lots of space to stay apartwhen we did encounter others.
The grandchildren came along all bundled up on this cold, windy day.
We were also accompanied by Cheyenne, the little brown dog I am dog sitting, granddog Sebastian and of course, Brodie, who hasn't hiked in 2 months. He stayed with the grandkids for 6 weeks and has only been back home for a little over a week. He gets to go on my walks with me now but I don't think he counts that as hiking.
We continued through the parking lot towards the crabbing bridge.
So much better than walking in residential areas.
Up ahead is the trailhead parking where we did not park knowing it would be packed.
We came out at the trailhead lot, crossed over the park road and continued left on ...
... a path parallel to the park road which leads all the way back to Hooks Creek Lake parking.
We are hanging up our backpacks for a bit. Sad does not even begin to describe how I feel about that.
For a few years now I have had intermittent hip pain which Advil or Aleve usually helped with. But early this summer the pain was more frequent, then every single day, rapidly becoming worse. Hiking had become very difficult and painful, only possible recently with prescription NSAIDs and heavy reliance on trekking poles. X-rays showed severe osteoarthritis in my right hip. Total hip replacement surgery will be the cure.
For any hiker facing this surgery, I highly recommend this book. You can see why the cover caught my eye. If I had any doubts about the surgeon telling me I would still be able to hike after surgery, this book put all that to rest.
Join me in 2021 when I will work my way back up to hiking. I am already compiling a file of easy, short, flat hikes to get me started as soon as I get the green light.
Since we are wrapping up the year a bit early, here is our annual slideshow of all of our hikes this year.
UPDATE: Surgery is done and I am back home. They said everything went well and that all the hiking I have done is going to be a huge bonus in recovery. Thank you all so much for your well wishes!
UPDATE 12/21: Starting to ride a stationary bike for 5 minutes a day and walking 1 mile a day with a cane. A local park plows the 1-mile loop around a pond which is perfect when there is snow on the ground but it has now forced me to update my annual balloon total for an unanticipated addition, balloon #65 of 2020.
