January 18, 2024 Opihi River Track (Day 113)
A cloudy morning that cleared up to a wonderful day. I took a short walk this morning towards town center and the small grocery store and did a little sightseeing on the way.
Hwy 79 T’s into Hwy 8 that runs through Fairlie. Hwy 8 is lined with trees planted in 1918 to commemorate “Peace from the Great War” and renamed Peace Avenue. This statue of a WW1 soldier is on Hwy 8 at the site of the railroad station from which the local boys boarded the train to their boot camps for the war. Some came home.
As the afternoon weather improved we decided to find and hike the easy Opihi River Trail that follows the river running parallel with Hwy 8.
The trail is being restored with native plantings in clearings. Along most of the length of the trail the river is obscured by trees and brush. The river had been stocked with Chinook salmon and brown trout in the 1900’s and is supposed to be good for fishing, although this summer it looks pretty low! We made it a round trip of 5 miles!
A relaxing evening, grilled lamb and veggies for dinner and a wonderful moon, looking full (but it’s not).