This past Sunday was Mother's Day and my mom and I decided one thing we wanted to do was go hiking. It was a pretty stressful weekend for me, and I was all for spending some time outdoors. I was also anxious to start getting back to the hiking routine and see how my injury held up.
We opted to hike some trails at Hashawa Environmental Center which isn't too far from home and has some trails that offer some hills. Their trails also all connect so it's easy to modify your hike- something that works well for my injury. If it starts hurting we can cut the hike short.
We decided on the Vista Loop Trail and the Green Trail which combined make about a 3 mile hike. The weather was gorgeous and the hike was great. I made sure I stretched my muscle along the trail and I didn't have any pain with it at all (a first!). We encountered some wildlife along the way including a snake that we weren't able to see long enough to identify (even though I went racing through the grass to find it), a an American Toad the size of the tip of your thumb to the first knuckle and some fish and a Red Eared Slider turtle in the large pond.
It was a really good hike. I felt better getting outside, spent some time with my mom and felt a little ray of hope that my injury might be getting better or at least manageable.
 |
| American Toad my mom spotted |
 |
| Red Eared Slider- my favorite photo with the clouds reflected in the water |
