Friendship to Aurora; Distance = 20 Miles; People Met = 7
We came to a three-way intersection where there should have been four roads. After a short, head-scratching break I figured out the fourth road was the gravel road that first appeared to be private. We followed the road a short distance to where it disappeared into a river. Well, technically it disappeared into Laughery Creek, which appeared as big as a river. Time for Plan B.
There was a chill in the air with snow showers soon approaching. As we hiked along our new Plan B route the only vehicle of that section stopped to see how we were doing. Gene Huntington told us that he used to do crazy stuff when he was 16 (implying we were crazy, not that we looked 16). He shared with us how he used to trap up and down Laughery Creek. Gene also informed us there was no bridge across Laughery Creek on the route we were going, either.
Cindy was not relishing getting her feet wet in a wide, cold stream on what would be a snowy day. The heat is my bane, the cold hers. Being the pragmatist I frankly confronted her that we needed to do it. Or did we? When we reached the crossing there was Gene waiting to ferry us across the river. What can I say? Stuff like this just keeps happening.
Gene Huntington and Cindy
Not long afterwards we came upon Jared getting his truck ready to head out. He was a 911 dispatcher and mobile DJ, getting ready for the latter job at a Valentine Day’s dance for a middle school. He was interested in what we were doing and I offered him my card. As I was fishing for the card I thought he offered me his and I said “Yes.” Instead, he had offered and handed over a donation.
Jared
We hiked through pleasant, scenic snow flurries through the rest of the day, arriving at a Lutheran Church for the second day in a row. This appears to be Lutheran country, as we encountered two more of them during our wintry walk. The St. John Lutheran Church of Aurora had an accompanying school where we spent the night. The youth basketball coach Paul Kunkel made us feel right at home. For entertainment that evening we watched his team prevail in a game.
Other Photos
Third-grader Zach crossed the street just to ask us if we were hikers
Another dying business
Don't you just hate towns that aren't golf cart friendly?
I walked across Laughrey Creek twice without my feet wet. There was a drought in October of 2010 when I was walking in eastern Indiana.
Wow! There was certainly more water in it this time.