Sunday we hiked part of the Busiek Silver Trail. Wednesday we decided to go back and do the complete trail.
 

One of the few small creek you have to cross on the Silver Trail.

The climb up the hill is quite rough.

Ginger on one of the hills on the Busiek Silver Trail – Note the loose gravel surface

Climbing one of the hills on the Busiek Silver Trail – Note the loose gravel surface

Didn’t I take this picture a couple of days ago?

We were surprised to see a couple of butterflies out today – has no one told them it is still February?

This tree is on the top of the ridge of the Yellow / Silver trail at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. It was struck by lightning March/April 2011.

Lightning Tree Busiek Silver / Yellow Trail. This picture was taken shortly after the tree was struck by lightning in 2011.

This tree is on the top of the ridge of the Yellow / Silver trail at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. It was struck by lightning March/April 2011

Where the Silver and Yellow Trails Meet. Hiking the Silver Trail – Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area

After climbing up the ridge along the Silver/Yellow Trail, it is nice to have a nice even flat and descending trail for a while.

The trail running straight up the hill ends at the parking lot. That section of trail is supposed to be closed. The official trail dog-legs left then loops to the right and back to the parking lot.

 
We were surprised to find that the complete trail only has a couple of hundred feet more climbing and is less than half a mile longer – we felt a bit cheated when we found that out, we thought we were letting ourselves in for a better workout. It was still good to be out again.

As before the climbs are on fairly rough ground, and certainly the 1:2, 1:3 grades could be dangerous if you slip and fall. We went clock-wise round the steep bits this time. Whichever way you go, the descent on the loose gravel is slow going.

The Full Silver Trail 3 Miles and 743 ft. of elevation

Now we just need to keep getting out each week.