Bright and early this morning I headed out to Donald Park hoping to beat the heat. Donald Park is one of my favorite county parks because it has a little of everything, creeks, ponds, springs, hills, meadows, forests, rock outcroppings, prairies, poetry and a little free library.  I have spent a lot of time here but in all my visits I had never been to the springs. So today I headed out to find them.

 

I was looking forward to a nice quiet hike in the cool morning air.  At 8ish (early for me;)  I pulled into the parking lot only to find 2 very big and loud lawn mowers cutting the grass on the trails. This REALLY irritated me! Hiking to the sound of mowers was NOT what I had in mind for today so I sat in my car for a few minutes feeling annoyed and contemplating what to do.

 

While I was sitting my phone rang, it was my sister, the school had just called her to tell her to come pick up her son, turns out he has pink eye. She is at work and is wondering if I could like to pick him up and spend the day with him.  I say yes and head across town to pick him up.

 

My nephew is a very adventurous and outdoorsy little 7 year old so it was easy to talk him into going back to the park and doing the hike with me. I was hoping that by the time we got back to the park the mowers would be done and gone. (They were not)

By the time I picked him up, got lunch and got to the park it was already noon and HOT! But this being the last day of July I needed to get this hike in today so we headed out anyway. In the parking lot there was a nice breeze so the heat didn’t feel so bad plus we would be in the woods so we would have shade, everything would be fine!

 

Within 200 feet of entering the woods I discovered everything would not be fine. It was HOT, even with the shade from all the trees and very humid, the wonderful breeze we had in the parking lot was not able to penetrate the thick woods and if we stopped for even a second to take a picture or check out a butterfly the mosquitos ate us alive! To make matters worse I did not bring along bug spray or much water so this was going to be a very quick hike in and out. 

 

Despite the less than ideal conditions we were determined to find the spring. We had parked at the equine parking lot and according to the map the spring was about a mile there and back. As long as we were moving the bugs didn’t bother us and when we did stop to examine something we swung sticks around each other to keep the bugs away.

 

The hike into the spring is through mostly forest. The Mt Vernon creek shows itself along the trail here and there and the trail meanders up and down some small hills. It is a short and pleasant hike. Much to my nephews delight the trail was filled with butterflies.  (He is known as the butterfly whisperer)  We spent a great deal of time chasing them and trying to photograph them.  Every now and then we would stop to take a picture of other things like wild flowers, bugs, mushrooms or the creek.

 

Despite it being hot, muggy and buggy this was a great short hike. Yes, I was a little grumpy and annoyed at first that it was hot and the mowers were still out but once we started hiking those things didn’t really bother me. My nephew was so focused on exploring the woods and so excited about the butterflies and the bugs and the frogs that the heat and the mosquitoes and the mowers just faded into the background.  I loved hiking with someone who was so full of energy and excitement. Someone who saw everything as fresh and new and fun and interesting. Someone who made an ordinary hike seem like a big adventure.

 

Hiking with a kid who is so fascinated with exploring the forest turned what could have been a negative experience into a wonderful and vibrant experience. I want to keep that youthful adventurous spirit with me on all my hikes.  That sense of wonder and curiosity, that ability to be so in the moment that nothing else in the world matters, to have no worries except catching that butterfly or examining that frog. I want to be more like that!!!

 

On this hike I was following the lead of a 7 year old and because of that I didn’t get as many pictures as would of liked but I did get to experience one of my favorite parks from the view point of a 7 year old and that turned out to be better than any photo I could of taken.