is it realistic to hike wearing a giant mosquito net?

So, we were slightly cardboard on Saturday.

It was hot that day, and humid. We planned to attempt the full 6.5 mile loop of the Shaker Trail, but we only made it about 1/3 of the way before we turned around. The bugs were ferocious, and the humidity was a little too much - cardboard tends to get a little soft in high humidity, you know.

Once we got back down to the base of the mountain, we did a bit of exploring in the ruins surrounding the brook. Despite the heavy rains the night before, the brook was very dry. We were able to walk out on the top half of the lower dam and get a few nice shots of the brook:







































Above is the silt filtration system on the dam (obviously non-functioning). The course of the stream is directed to a small holding pool that dumps the water into the filtration system.

The pool:




















The support system for the pool (still intact):
















Vegetation was thick, but I also got to climb out near the upper dam system. I couldn't really get any good shots of that, or the larger pipeline, but I was able to capture part of the mill foundations just below the dam:









































































We also discovered the foundation for the Carding and Fulling mill:






















































And here are the stone piers to which the wooden support beams were attached for the water wheel:







































We saw some wildlife, too, on this trip. Here's a butterfly that was flitting around the top of the lower dam:
















And we also saw some fantastic animal tracks. On the way in, we found deer tracks near one of the mud puddles:
















And we also saw a piece of a robin's egg shell:
















On the way out, not far from where the deer tracks were, we found the tracks of a family of turkeys. There are some large tracks, small ones, and then very tiny ones as well.





























































All in all, it was a fair hike. I think we had more fun exploring the ruins, though.

Next time we'll do the full loop. As long as it's cool, and dry, and those crazy bugs stay away...

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