Gladbrook, 6-23-2012, 4/105
Construction made me concerned that I
wasn't going to be able to access this one. It took some driving on
“minimum maintenance” roads that are to be used “at your own
risk”; which normally would scare me into turning around, but the
ground was dry so I took a chance and quasi off-road-ed it.
I was relieved to see the familiar
Brown and Yellow signs saying the park opened at 4am, knowing that
made it official.
At the first entrance I saw there was a
shaky bridge over a small creek. It turns out that this creek winds
its way through the park being fed by a lake/river (couldn't tell
which). I found a way to cross the creek only to decide that I didn't
want to go bouldering and turn around.
Going around the lake I came across
trails. They were a nice hike. With the right type of bike, I would
love to take them on. The trails loop into each other and lead to
private property, a campground, and this really cool tree growing
horizontally over the water.
Then there was a problem; ready to
leave and unsure of how many times I had turned. So, I guessed. I
went left at the water and after walking a bit, I saw 2 trees and
definitely had deja-vu. I was certain that I had seen those trees
from that angle before which would have meant that I was walking the
same way and not heading back to my car. I had not taken a picture of
the trees the first time so my uncertainty won out and I continued on
until I found a familiar purple flower. This however I did have a
picture of; there was no doubt right at the river was the way back to
my car, because I had taken this exact path to get lost in the first
place. However across the water, I saw a car and decided that it was
mine; in the direction I had just realized was wrong. Luckily for me
the path kept curving left and didn't look like it was ever going to
go right to meet with my car (at least not in the amount of time I
had been walking). I turned around to now pass my flower and trees
from the other direction and eventually found my first path.
During this trip, I completely forgot
water and it was beginning to get to me. There was a ground-water
pump on my way back. It had a sweet taste which was a bit weird, but
who cared at that point. After hydrating, I got my bearings and
realized that the car I had seen couldn't have been mine because it
was on another side of the water. Good thing those plants made an
impression on me. I confirmed my mistake by driving by “my” car
about 4 miles away on my way to the next park.
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