Rend Lake Bike Trail

We went for a short bicycle ride last night around the campground, down to the water and the half mile to the bike trail.  We only took the trail, which is made of concrete and probably ten feet wide, from North Sandusky Campground to South Sandusky Campground as it was getting late and we didn't want to be riding after dark.  We saw two deer on the trail but they disappeared into the woods before we could get our cameras out. Ted went out again early this morning and saw a half dozen rabbits on the trail heading back towards the entrance. 

Looking toward campground from bike trail

Once we had breakfast and got our act together we packed a picnic, our cameras, etc. and rode the bike trail south and east toward the dam.  Everything along the trail was green and lush with new spring growth.  Right close to the trail was mowed but there were all kinds of different wild flowers blooming just beyond the mowed area.   We passed the beach area, a marina, a recreation area and the visitor's center before pedaling beside the long earthen dam.  The trail turned away from from the dam to get downstream of the heaviest flow before crossing another bridge to get up to the top of the east end of the dam.  This bridge had a sign saying it was the Big Muddy River and that it was 103 miles to the Mississippi.  The river, which the dam controls, lives up to its name as it was really brown and muddy. Before the bridge there was an area from a secondary outlet of the dam that was swampy and algae covered with dead trees standing in the swamp.  Sheila saw a couple of woodpeckers on one of the dead trees on the way back.

Big Muddy River

When we got to the other end of the dam, there was an observation platform to look down at the water.  There were stairs on either side of the spillway leading down to the pools at the bottom.  There were people standing on the edge fishing.  We could see hundreds of huge gar swimming in the water at the base of the dam.  People were also fishing on rocky islands just downstream of the dam.  We returned the 3.1 miles to the visitor center  and sat in the shade at their picnic tables to eat lunch.  The whole area including the dam, campgrounds, marina, etc. is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and they had a wonderful display set up in the visitor's center.  We spent some time there and rode back toward the beach where we stopped to take some pictures of the lake and the dam from a distance.

US Army Corps of Engineers Flag

Back on the trail Sheila spotted an eagle's nest with an eagle sitting in it.  Another photo op. What hasn't been mentioned before is how hilly the trail was.  Unlike Florida which is virtually flat, it seemed like it was uphill in both directions.   By the time we finished with the fifteen mile round trip, it was hard to get out of low gear and we were glad to be back at the campsite with a nice shower.  The temperature was in the low eighties with big puffy cumulous clouds in the sky.  A beautiful day for a bike ride.

Eagle in Nest