An afternoon hike

Yesterday I decided to get out of the house for a while and do something outside since it was such a beautiful day. I was tired of sitting around the house and working on the computer and I really needed a bit of an escape filled with fresh air and wide open spaces.

I wasn't exactly sure what to do since I was on my own for the day, but Paul suggested checking out Raccoon Creek State Park since it's only a short drive away. So, I put on my walking shoes (well, my black Crocs... which actually turned out to be excellent and comfortable hiking shoes even for the muddy parts), grabbed my camera and Zoe and I headed out to the park. When I got there I had to stop at the park office to get a map and I decided to try the Mineral Springs Loop Trail which was nearby and listed on the map as an "easy to moderate" hike of 1.2 miles. Since I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and also wasn't sure how well Zoe would do on the trail, I thought it was a good beginner's choice.

Zoe and I set out on the trail and quickly found that it was quite a bit overgrown. I was a little nervous as it was because I had forgotten my cell phone at home and I was about to walk into the woods without any means of communicating with the outside world. Plus, my only protection from wild animals and serial killers was Zoe's ferocious bark which is unfortunately not well backed up with bite. After this first round of doubt about the intelligence of continuing on the path, I decided to push through and just see how it went. There were a couple of parts where I had to carry Zoe through because the brush at her level was too thick for her to get through... and there were a number of trees down over the path (probably from the recent windstorm on Sunday) that we had to climb over or around. After about five minutes of walking, we got past the really overgrown part and the trail opened up a bit. We ended up following a little stream up a hill to the mineral springs.

When we got there, the spring was really just little streams of water running down the side of a rock wall. It left a copper colored stain where it flowed down and the rock at the foot of the wall was actually carved out in several places into the shape of a bowl from the constant stream of water. It was kind of neat to see but then we pressed on.

The rest of the trail led further up the hill and into deeper woods. Until that point, I hadn't really felt like I was too far away from civilization because I could still faintly hear sounds from the highway. At the top of the hill, though, the trail went deeper in and we were completely surrounded by woods in all directions so the sounds of civilization were gone. More downed trees and overgrown brush impeded the path in several places. Twice I lost the trail and wasn't sure where to go next because it was so overgrown. But instead of letting the feeling of panic swelling up in my chest get too overwhelming, I just tried a few directions until I figured it out (carrying Zoe through some of the worst parts). I have to say that I was extremely impressed with myself for continuing on through it all since I was out there by myself. I knew that the trail was a loop and so that helped to keep me on task instead of letting myself get convinced to turn around. It really was a bit of a struggle to make myself continue (scaredy-cat that I am). I had no phone, and the deeper we got into the woods, the more all of the animal sounds were amplified in a way that made me nervous. I kept reassuring myself that a person or any large animal would have to make a good deal more noise... and that helped to keep me sane until I finally relaxed and started enjoying the peacefulness and solitude.

I have to say that Zoe absolutely loved the hike as much as I did. It took us about an hour to complete the trail, and she was excited the entire time including when she had to climb over some big fallen trees. Afterward Zoe had the happiest expression on her little face... and then on the ride home she curled up and went to sleep... completely exhausted from our adventure. Hey, it was a big hike for such a little dog! Overall though, I thought it was a pretty easy walk, so I think next time I'm going to tackle one of the "moderate" trails and see how it goes. Maybe I can even convince someone to come along with us for extra company.