Willis Lake to Wilcox Lake

Took a hike yesterday from Willis Lake to Wilcox Lake and back again. I parked at the last camp on the dirt road that becomes the trail, cutting .9 mile off of the hike. Even so, round trip was 10.5 miles. Ya Hoo! Finally passed the 10 mile hike mark. This is probably the driest hike I've been on all summer. Only a handful or so of mud holes to get around, many have dried up due to several rain free days. Got to Wilcox Lake in about 3 hours and took 25 minutes to rest, eat and let my feet rest. Took boots off and trimmed a little more off of my inserts. Finally found out what animal makes a very loud call that sounds more like something from the Amazon than Upstate NY. Turns out to be a very large woodpecker. Very cool. Felt good on the hike back, was trekking along with brain somewhere else when my toe caught a stick, stick hit the trekking pole and down I went on my left. Fell on knee then backpack on my left arm. Floundered there a minute kind of like a turtle on its back while I figured out how to get out of the pack so I could get up. Fortunately a dry smooth part of the trail so only had some leaf debris on me. Lesson Learned: Keep mind on trail. Left my car at about 0830, lunch from 1125 to 1150 and back at my car at about 1445. Spent a few minutes talking with the owner of the camp when I got back. I did a lot of stretching of my feet when I got home. This morning only a little foot pain. Perhaps I'm toughening up. Today or tomorrow, making reservations at the NYS Lake Durant Campground for day 5 of my hike and at a hotel in Lake Placid for the end of the hike. I won't want to drive home that day.