Trail Chaser: Mt. Shannon via Camp Bell

Ah, Mt. Shannon. As you can tell, we can't get enough of this hike. 😄 But we did do something totally different this time...

While I'm perfectly happy to repeat a good trail, I did feel like doing something unique today (not just for hiking patch credit, but simply for the sake of novelty). Whether that meant a hike I've done but it's been a while, or something totally new, it didn't matter to me. I just didn't particularly feel like repeating Pine or another frequented location we've done very recently.

Ok, yes, we did just do Shannon two hikes ago. And a few hikes before that. 😂 But... well, it's Shannon! 💚 And Hummingbird was fairly set on doing it. Still, I felt the urge to at least use a different approach to mix things up a bit. And to extend the hike a bit longer. So, we decided, instead of our usual trailhead, we would start from Camp Bell.

Most of the added distance was roadwalk and gentle trail, which kept the hike relatively low impact, while not quite doubling the mileage. Along the way we discovered lovely new sights and many pretty things in nature.

The weather was nearly perfect for hiking; our only complaint being the black flies & mosquitos. I got one in my mouth within 90 seconds on trail. Ugh! Thankfully, when we started out it wasn't intolerable. Between keeping a good pace and a light breeze blowing, the bugs were kept under control for the most part.... Just so long as we didn't stop moving. As evening wore on, however, the swarms worsened as they typically do. By the time we were doing the roadwalk back, the bugs could have carried us away! It was pretty miserable. We were glad to find a breeze again in the parking lot so we could load up without those nasties following us into our vehicles.

It was still all worth it! As Shannon always is. 😊 Because, you know, it's just so pretty!