Hiking through the outer solar system

Coppertone and I joined our friend Richard for a hike along Sugarloaf's Planet Walk.  The Robert Ferguson Observatory that served as our starting point also stands in for Earth in the Planet walk.  Subsequent planetary markers on the trail are spaced proportionally to match their relative distances from the Sun.  The Mars marker came up rather quickly.  The outer planets' markers only come with more milage and some elevation gain.

The walk follows along the Meadow and Brushy Peaks Trails.  Along this path we symbolically traversed the solar system all the way past Neptune.  There is also a marker for Pluto farther ahead.  But we'll stay out of the fierce debate concerning whether Pluto should be considered a planet or not.

Near our picnic bench turnaround point a small section of trail was cordoned off.  The reason being a large beehive has been established in the hollow of an Oak tree.  There was a constant stream of bees coming and going from the opening right onto the trail.  A short and simple detour a little farther away from the tree still allowed access to the nearby picnic table.

Despite the number of people we encountered on the trail we had our picnic spot all to ourselves.  After enjoying a rest and snacks we doubled back along the path we took back to our trailhead.