Pine Cliff Trail at Governor Dodge

Sorry for my silence the last couple of days. On Tuesday Travalon and I needed to get our minds off of the election, so we went to Liliana’s for dinner. Then we did watch the returns. Yesterday I had the day off of work, so we went on a therapeutic hike at Governor Dodge State Park. (Interestingly, I read an article that said one of the best ways to get over depression from the election results is to get outside.) It was a gorgeous day, and we started with breakfast at Crema Café before hitting the road, sitting by the window in the sunlight. That already improved my mood, and then we hit the trails at Governor Dodge. I have hiked there many times before, but I had never done the Pine Cliff Trail that goes around Cox Hollow Lake. Of course the sign only said that it was 4.5 miles, not that it had a lot of steep climbs – I ended up going up the equivalent of 24 flights of stairs! Poor Travalon had to carry Rodney up all those inclines, so he must have really burned a lot of calories! Rodney cannot really hike anymore. We did pass Pine Cliff, or at least a cliff with pine trees on it, and we hiked along the edge of a peninsula in the lake and past all sorts of interesting rock formations. At one point we were high up on a ridge with drop-offs on either side of us… and we still had to go up further! We also passed over a stream several times (or several streams?), and the ferns and moss were still green around it this late in the year. At the other end of the trail we found a sign stating that the trail goes past some of the oldest and most varied geology on earth. Who knew such a fascinating trail was awaiting our discovery? We did have to walk along the road a short way to get back to our car, just to forewarn any readers who might want to take this trail. After that we went to Mineral Point so Travalon could buy tea at the Cornish shop, and then we went to their little brewpub, but it is only open Thursday through Saturday during the fall, so we ended up at a pizza place across the street, in one of those old stone buildings the town is so known for. Delicious pizza! So what could have been a horrible day turned out to be wonderful.

Famous Hat