North-South Trail - Hike #5

We were trying to come with a name for today's hike.  At one point the title "Non-Wildlife Hike" seemed appropriate. Another option might have been "Lotsa Roads".  In any event, with unusual November temperatures in the upper 50's, it appeared to be a great day for a hike.

Ahead of time, I knew that this was not going to be a particularly interesting hike.  I've been using Google "street view" to actually examine the hike route, so I was expecting a lot of roads.  I certainly found them.

Thanks so much to Alex for joining me today and helping with the car shuttle. The parking lot at our starting point, the Rice City Community Church, was busy this morning just like it was when Betsy picked me up two weeks ago.  Then it was a church supper; today it was a craft fair.

Beside this church, there are two historic schoolhouses; one from 1812 and one from 1846.

This Rhode Island historic cemetery occupied a prominent hilltop location. 
In total, we passed 4 cemeteries on this trip.

This is horse country in Rhode Island.  These guys were looking for company or a snack, but knew well enough to stay back from the electrified fence. 

Yeah, lots of roads, but at least there were plentiful bucolic vistas, too. 

The trail went right past the Foster Country Club.  These golfers were teeing off at the first hole.

This was actually noted in the trail guide. 
The sign on the telephone pole across from this entrance just said "D W N C -->";\.
That's an abbreviation for Dyer Woods Nudist Campground.   Peering down the driveway, I saw that the gate to the campground was actually open.  I guess even nudists need firewood.

This was a highlight.  In addition to the many horse farms we passed, there was also this alpaca farm.  These juveniles watched us for a while with curiosity, then wandered away.

This is definitely non-wildlife.   This truck/crane was loading lumber from a newly cleared field.

There's plenty of traffic along Danielson Pike, aka The Grand Army of the Republic Highway,
aka  US Route 6, probably the busiest highway on the entire trail.

Apparently, the Shady Acres Restaurant and Dairy Bar is another landmark along the trail.  After this point, we met up with a small group people doing some trail maintenance and improvements.  They made sure there were lots of "North-South Trail" signs north of this point. 

Finally, a trail rather than a road. 

I think this rooster also qualifies as "non-wildlife" as well.  Decolores!

Returning to Rice City, our car was only one left in the lot

It was an ambitious hike today:  11.83 miles in 3:44.  That's an average speed of 3.17 mph including breaks (the fastest I've recorded).  Our feet were quite tired at the end of the day as there was a lot of hard pavement.  We figured:  48% paved road, 45% dirt road, and only 7% wooded trail.  Now there are just over 20 miles to go to finish.  If the weather holds out, I might finish it before Christmas.  Join me if you can!