A special hike with a special person

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography

My hike this morning was at a familiar place, but this time I have a different companion.  I experienced nature with my wife and it was a great time.

I had asked my wife on Friday if she wanted to join me Saturday morning for a hike at Mount Saint Francis.  I knew the weather would be appealing to her (72 degrees when we began), and I even invited a friend to join us so Marcie would have another female to hang out with.  The friend backed out (I knew she would) but it made it more enjoyable for me and Marcie.

I had my backpack with my water, I carried hers as well and my camera.  We parked, noticing only one other car in the parking lot and we headed down the gravel path towards the woods.  Marcie had never been to this part of the park so I was excited to show her and see how her experience would be.

Much of the first 2 miles (we went 3.61 total) we were completely alone, except for a darting squirrel or songbirds and woodpeckers high above us making their presence known.  We chatted, but not much.  We both enjoyed the peace and calm of nature.  The paths below our feet had recently been cleared so the normal 1.5-footpath now had grown to 4+ feet in width.  I was also very surprised to see the areas normally bogged down with leaves and mud were completely dry and barren other than the compact dirt that snaked its way through the trees before us.

Eventually, as we were headed east and came across a lady crossing a bridge in front of us.  She was flailing her arms which I knew before she said to us “I cleared out all the spider webs for you.”  As she moved passed us (more than 6ft apart per social distance recommendations), she was still rubbing her arms and making a face not knowing if the spider who spent hours creating the web she quickly destroyed was still clinging to one of the webs stuck to her body.

We pushed on made our way up a hill, then back down towards the lake.  The sun was flashing through the trees as we walked in sort of a strobe light fashion.  As we approached the lake we could see on the other side a young man and woman making their way toward us, and quickly behind them a young female runner who passed them on the bridge we were approaching.  She made her way towards us, smiling and staying the more than 6ft apart per social distance recommendations.   Within another minute the young couple passed us and we made our way across the bridge and up the hill on the other side.

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography

We continued on and eventually saw a young lady with her puppy throwing a “hotdog” into the lake for his happy retrieval.  We stopped and chatted for a few minutes staying more than 6ft apart per social distance recommendations, then moved along.  As we approached the car, we were both tired and sweaty, but I was very happy my wife joined me today.  She got to see this magical place I have so often wrote about.

I will leave you with a quote that quantifies my trek this morning “Let’s take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magic whisper of old trees.” Author Unknown.

Until next time,

Tim