Lone Elm Snow Trails

We received our first snow of winter on Monday, and then it turned bitterly cold and windy, so I didn’t venture out again on the bike until Friday, when the winds moderated and the temps creeps back to the upper 20’s.

I decided to check out the trails at Lone Elm Park, the nearest place for me to ride off-road. Four days after the initial snow, I didn’t expect to be the first person to set foot in the park, but it turns out I was. Except for numerous wildlife tracks, the trails were virgin, with the snow about 4 inches deep in most places.

Here are some photos from my short ride:

Making first tracks on a bridge at Lone Elm Park.
Tread Deeply: This is a good look at the track left my Specialized Hardrock’r tires. Had no troubles getting around!
Love these rather delicate wingprints.
A deer track (I think). I saw one small deer while I was at the park, but she was too quick for me to get a picture.
These tracks are either from a field mouse running across the snow, or from a bird hopping on the surface.
I think these are mouse runs leading to a tunnel under the grass.
Not all the wildlife at the park survived. This coyote was lying along the trail; hard to say what killed it.
And not all the trees are lovely, either, as the huge spikes on this hedge (Osage Orange) tree attest.
The hedge apples produced by the Osage Orange trees provide food for the squirrels and birds in the park.
The hedge apples appear to be favored by wildlife such as this chatty fellow.
The snow on the bridge, path, and trees made for a lovely scene. This picture also shows the snow building up on my wheels, though it was always rather easy pedaling, even through the deeper drifts.
The cocklebur: Nature's velcro.
Once out of the park and onto gravel, the road was mostly clear. Luckily the temperature was still under freezing, otherwise this would have been a slushy mess.

(Sorry if it’s difficult to make out details in some of these photos; the whiteness of the snow tends to make finding the right contrast difficult.)

Hope you enjoyed riding along with me!

DirtBum Written by:

I enjoy riding bicycles all over -- city streets, suburbia, rural roads, gravel roads, dirt roads, rail-trails, and singletrack. I love exploring the countryside and finding the interesting and historical treasures hidden in plain sight. You can follow my rides on Strava.