Back on the Trails

Finally, after months of working two jobs or being incredibly busy, I'm back on the walking/hiking bandwagon. Besides walking to work and back again - and at double the distance I might add - I've been hiking like the nature-loving gal I am. I really missed being out on the trails, so I'm making up for lost time by hiking as much as possible. This past weekend, I hiked with my best friend Rebecca on Saturday, and with my son on Sunday. Rebecca and I went to a tried and true, yet simple, favorite: Schramm State Park.

The path in Schramm is straightforward in that you can either take the full circle, or cut it in half in a couple of places. There are also a couple of shortcuts along the path as well. One thing I had never noticed, in all the years I've hiked this park, was an obvious path down to the creek that runs through it. Either I've never noticed it before or I don't remember. I have a feeling it's the latter because the kids never missed a side trail to something like this back when they were younger.

While I'm pretty sure the kids went down the path to this creek, I haven't, so it was fun to see something different in a place I've been to countless times. It was still early in the morning so the air was fairly cool, and the foliage looked so lush and green, especially against these larger chunks of rock.

The entire trail, without any sidetracking, is about 3 miles from your car back to your car. Since we did do some sidetracking, we ended up getting closer to 5 miles altogether. Afterward, we found a secluded shelter with a picnic table and had a brunch composed of food items we both brought. It was a wonderful way to spend time together.

The next morning, Sunday, my son and I headed out early (again to beat the heat) to take a hike in Neale Woods. Neale Woods is my favorite place to hike in my area, and it never gets old for me. Over the years, I have watched the trails change and grow here so it's easy to take a new adventure.

We hiked out into the West side of the park, back to (Nature) center, and then looped back into the East side of the park. We got a good four miles in altogether. We stopped here where my son lamented, much like I have in the past, about how the old observation deck is no longer a feature in our beloved nature area. 

After our hike, we found a shady spot behind the old house turned nature center - that's no longer in use as such - for a much-needed drink of water and a snack from my hiking pack. It felt good to rest our feet and take respite from the sun after a nice hike through the woods.

In fact, it just felt good, overall, to be actively hiking again. I do so miss getting out into the forest as much as I used to, but I plan on turning that around this summer. It should be easy enough now that I have more time. 

I hope the rest of your week is great.

-H.A.