We have enjoyed about a week of beautiful fall weather. This was the last day. Sunshine and temperatures in the 70s drew us to one of our favorite hiking spots called Squire Point. Some locals who follow this blog will know where that is located. The loop trail is one we haven’t taken since the derecho on 10 August 2020. Many trees were downed by the storm. Branches snapped and hung over the trail. The park was closed until it could be made safe.
About halfway through our hike, we stopped at the point and sat on a bench to admire the view of the lake. I reached into my back pocket. A nip of Scotch was a perfect addition to the beautiful day.
Our View From Iowa 
That was a hellova storm. The way the trees have fallen reminds me of several gaps along the AT where the Venturi effect speeds up the wind and reeks havoc, especially during/after ice and snow storms. Keeps Stihl in business.
Last weekend we made lots of progress cleaning up behind our house. Three pickup truck loads of cut trunks and limbs were hauled off. Less chainsaw noise lately. Lots of leaf blowers. Rain today stopped that.
Thanks for your post! I’m glad to know you two are well and out hiking. It’s good to know that squire point is open again. We’ve gone to the osprey trail recently and it has been cleared too and is nice. Here’s hoping we have some more days to get out before the ice and snow!
Yes. We’re fine, thanks. And you? We hiked the Kinder Point trail a week ago. Finally got to this one.
That was some wind…poor trees!
It seems we’ve been getting a lot more high winds than we used to as well. They can pack a punch and leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
Winds were fierce at about 100 mph for nearly 30 min. We lost a lot of them in the wooded area behind our house. One landed on the roof and did some major damage.
Look at that flask! I take it it’s hand-tooled leather. Did you get it on your trip to Scotland? I don’t even like Scotch, but I could be tempted to have a swig from such a good-looking flask. I’m glad you were able to get out, and had a nice place for hiking. It can take time to clean up after a storm like that, but recovery does come.
We got that flask in Santa Fe NM in March. It is hand tooled. We took the train from Ft. Madison. It was just at the beginning of the COVID spread.
Cleanup behind our house is about finished. We are still waiting to have our roof and gutters replaced. It may be spring before that happens.
Boy did that storm wreak havoc. Good post.
It was a monster. I don’t want to see another. Thanks for your visit.