Perpetual Ruminations

A Walk In The Park

Yesterday we took the dogs to the State Park to enjoy some time outside, exercise, and fresh air. It was a beautiful day, but by noon, it began to fade into a change. We had hoped to do some snowshoeing, but we could not find any trails that still had enough snow on them. We had anticipated this, but brought the snowshoes and hoped there might still be enough snow in the wooded areas. There was some, but there was more mud than snow, and we didn't care to take the dogs out in the mud or to go mudshoeing.

We quickly changed our plans and went to a paved trail to hike on. The wind had picked up to about thirty miles per hour with gusts up to fifty miles per hour, nearing sixty at times. With the high winds, there were few people in the park, so we were able to let the dogs off their leashes for a while. They enjoyed this free time to run, sniff, and explore; Max, my Husky, tended to run out into the snowy areas as much as possible while Bellah, my wife's Australian Shepard stayed in the grassy areas more.

After about a half a mile down the trail, we encountered another person walking their dog, so we put ours on their leashes. Shortly after, we encountered a park ranger on a tractor clearing away any remaining snow and ice, so it was good that the dogs were leashed. They don't walk the best on their leashes, so it was also a bit of training for them.

By this time, the wind had picked up, and it was making so much noise we knew the dogs wouldn't be able to hear us very well, so they stayed on their leashes. Soon enough the trail we were hiking crossed the road, so we turned off the trail and followed the road back to the vehicle. We had kept the wind to our backs most of the way down the trail, so now we were walking straight into it, and walking was difficult, almost like walking uphill.

It was an enjoyable hike, but it was also challenging. This is good, I need to challenge myself so I'll be ready to do some serious hiking when the weather turns nicer. And, being on asphalt made this hike much less challenging than if we had followed some of the gravel trails that wound around more, had more hills, and of course, lots of mud.

Within minutes of driving out of the park, the snow started. There was no forecast for snow, but it was coming down at a fair rate, and with the wind, it was snowing sideways. We had timed our hike just right and didn't have to try to walk into those strong, gusty winds and the blowing snow. Sometimes things work just right.

The drive home was pleasant, and the snow, clouds, and blowing clouds were very beautiful. It was warm enough that the snow didn't stick at all, and by the time the temperature dropped, it had stopped. In fact, we had stopped at a store to pick up a few things before finishing our drive home. When we went in, it was still snowing, and the temperature was forty-nine degrees.

When we exited the store about fifty minutes later, the temperature had dropped twenty degrees, almost a thirty-degree drop in less than an hour. Another half hour later, and we were home, the temperature had dropped to eleven degrees, and continued to plunge down through the night, and they didn't rise much today. Tonight, we get to see the mercury drop below zero one last time as February dies and March marches in with milder temperatures. At least, that's what the meteorologists are saying.