Checking out the eagle's nest...

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Seriously…did I move?  With temperatures again in the low seventies and blue skies overhead for maybe the eighth day in a row, I’m not so sure I’m in Northeast Ohio any longer.  In any event, my legs were tired but I was anxious to take advantage of the situation with another ride.  Holly and I had made plans to hike at the East Branch Reservoir in the late afternoon so I had about two hours to bike immediately after church.  I wasted little time suiting up and heading out the driveway.

I’ve started carrying and drinking my diet Lipton iced tea on the bike so I have a way to replace some of the salt I’m sweating out while riding.  I’m thinking this could help me to avoid the cramping I sometimes experience, but the drink I’ve chosen isn’t really the best for this.  It’s what I have at the moment though, and it’s cheap.

I rode reasonably hard through windy conditions that seemed to shift and face me regardless of the direction I turned.  Bastard.  As I made my way back up the drive and disembarked, I knew my legs were fatigued and not interested in hiking.  I had to go, though and quickly showered and grabbed my camera.

I had asked Holly to take this hike in hopes that we’d spot the eagles.  She couldn’t have been more excited about that prospect.

“They’re just birds…and kind of ugly ones at that,” she said, noting their yellow, curving beaks and bland coloring.

“I’ll give you that they aren’t pretty colored song birds and they are a bit intimidating in their looks…but there a hell of a lot more than ‘just birds’.  You’ll get it if we get to see one and they’re flying close by,” I promised.

We made our way past the lean-to located in a grove of pines just off the water which I pointed out to her in the hopes that she’d think it was a great place to come and camp out for a night.  What WAS I thinking.

“You could sleep here and have a nice campfire and great places to hike, kayak and ride your bike.  Then you could go to some of the local shops in Burton and Middlefield to do some browsing,” I said.

“I could do all those things and sleep in a nice bed at the Red Maple Inn, too,” she said.

“Well…I suppose…but why would you want to do that when you could sleep out for a lot less and have all this serenity?” I asked.

She looked at me like I was daft.  It was rhetorical anyways…I knew her answer.

We hiked the trail and then went off-trail to within 400 yards of the nest.  I stayed back to keep from disturbing anything that might be occupying it, but we saw no sign of life and eventually returned the way we’d come.  For me, any hike in the woods is worth the effort and I don’t think Holly was disappointed, either.  I have to admit that my legs were crying bunches during the hike though, and I was happy to be back in the car and resting for the drive home.

Hike duration:  60 minutes.  Bike duration:  One hour and 50 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  80 hiking and 120 bpm on the bike.
Calories burned during workout:  350 hiking and 1550 on the bike.