Coyote!
Temperature: 21° F (felt like 10°)
Weather: Cloudy with snow flurries
After two days on a treadmill, it was really nice to be back outside and have my husband and son along for the walk!
Today we headed back to the Old Plank Road Trail and walked between approximately Mile 15.6 and Mile Marker 16.4 (both ways). This portion of the trail is entirely in New Lenox, Illinois. It passes near their village hall, police station, and library.
Most of the trail here heads through heavily wooded residential areas. We are pretty sure a coyote was ahead of us on the path today! I was able to snap a quick picture with my cell phone, but I had trouble zooming in close enough; it’s the dark spot near the center of the trail:
The trail at one point takes a little jog around an intersection of two cross streets. It was after we had just crossed these streets and gotten back on the trail that we noticed the coyote walking ahead of us. He was heading in the same direction that we were, but kept turning back to check on us. He left the trail after a few minutes, and we didn’t see him again. We believe it was a coyote because there have been several reports of coyotes throughout the Chicago suburbs attacking dogs left tied-up and outside alone. We have had a coyote in our yard as well.
Today, I also noticed a sign for the American Discovery Trail. This trail goes from Delaware to California and consist of connected trails and walkable streets. I was aware that the Old Plank Road Trail connects to other trails going west, but did not know about the America Discovery Trail.
Good day, good walk!