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This segment is be the last needed to complete the island. It
is not important for the needs of the survey, but is crucial
for "bragging rights". The dike itself is covered with
completely impenetrable growth. I use the offset feature of the
GPS to let me walk 30 "left" of the dike. Soon I break out of
the brambles into a field of deep grass, so I figure it would
be easy going now. WRONG. The deep grass was criss-crossed with
vines and vetches and thistles, making going almost impossible.
After thrashing my way for about an hour, I came to an uncrossable ditch. When I tried to "go around", I came to another ditch. So I went around it, back to the first ditch. Then another ditch. Around it, back to the first ditch again, and finally back to about 20' from where I started, about 1 1/2 hours later. Whew! But along the way, besides several herons and uncountable smaller birds, a very special event. As I was working my way through the "woven" grass, almost shoulder high, I stopped for a moment to get my breath and relish a momentary breeze. Just then, about 6' in front of me, a barn owl lept up from the grass, flapped in the breeze a couple of times to get his bearings, then silently flew away. I looked in the grass to see if I could tell what he was doing, but saw nothing. After circumnavigating another ditch system. I finally made it back out to the highway. I crossed the highway, just to stand where I had been on a previous outing. Finished. One hundred percent done! Now, a walk back to my car at Juniper Beach. |
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