So in my previous post I mentioned looked forward to returning to Afton State Park really soon. Well that turned out to be the very next weekend.. and the Tuesday after that... and today! This park is just fantastic! If only the trails new the St. Croix River weren't so noisy (motor boats and jet skis) and populated. So many people cooking out and having family reunions.. but That's only if you stay on that trail.. which I don't really even spend much time on. The other parts of the park are just amazing! So much variety in both landscape and wildlife. I've been leaving my camera and tripod on the last three hikes in Afton and it seems I constantly run into animals! I swear they know when I have a camera! But it's lightened my load, so that's fine with me. The personal experience is more than reward enough. During the one visit I saw a family of deer, but I didn't spot them early enough. We all just observed each other until the mother decided she didn't want to hang around with he young anymore. I've also seen many chipmunks and squirrels. I did see a group of wild turkeys as well and they just walked away from me as quickly as possible. I've had a few other deer encounters. Probably my favorite encounter so far is of a white tailed hawk. I was walking along a prairie path my second time at the park and when I rounded the corner I saw the hawk on the ground enjoying their meal but then saw me and flew away with dinner. But I found it strange that the hawk didn't fly into the prairie grass but just flew a little ways away and landed on the trail again. We encountered each other several more times and I threatened him (Assuming it was a male hawk) saying if I ran into him one more time I'd name him... And thus we have Howard the Hawk. My third visit I was walking on the prairie trail again and I saw a large shadow cross my path and when I looked up, sure enough it was Howard. He was just gliding in circles, no doubt looking for a meal. He didn't seem to mind me and eventually he flew off into the distance and dive bombed some small critter I'm sure. Today I saw him just flying about the prairie. He seems a bit more comfortable with my presence now. Hopefully the next time I go, I'll be able to take a few photos of him.
But anyway, I just love Afton. There are a wide variety of trails and I've now hiked on most of them. The only one I don't enjoy a whole lot is the paved trail... which once again is along the St. Croix. It's just not as much fun as the rest of the trails. Today I hiked about 9 miles and I definitely tell a difference in how my body handles it from when I took my first trip back at the end of May to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park.
In other news, I'm trying to get away from the internet more. I know it's a great tool to stay connected with friends.. but I've found it to be almost trapping. So I've been cutting back some and just trying to get out more. This past Tuesday was my first ever week day hike... well that's not completely accurate.. My first weekday hike and having to work the next day as well. I got out of work and headed straight for Afton and got in a nice 2.5 hour hike and then went home feeling very much content and at peace. I'm lucky Afton is so close! It's only about a half hour away, so I think any time I have a rough day at work or feel stressed.. I'll just head for Afton!
Also, today I went to a Target and saw they had Marty Stouffer's Wild America for sale. It was separated in two sets. Season 1-6 and season 7-12. They were 19.99 per set, so I bought the first set. I used to love this show when I was a child and I now find that I'm still enjoying them! They offer some great tips and information for observing nature.
So until next time, enjoy our wild America!
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