Hike Two - Around Round Lake

My second hike in a week. I’m on it. It has been very brisk in the mornings, but sunny and beautiful, and the early light slanting through the trees is magical. Trail Two – Around Round Lake. People are happy and friendly out here; we know, by being in this place, that we are kindred spirits. The town disappears and there is just the woods and the water… and on this lucky day, the light.

The hike around Round Lake isn’t long, maybe a mile and a half, but it is hilly, and I stop to take many pictures. The first hill is the steepest and longest, and I am gasping for air at the top, but then my body seems to adjust, and I stride effortlessly over the final terrain. Once I leave the trailhead park area I don’t see another hiker, but I can see evidence. I consider our community very blessed to enjoy these natural parks and trails. These are my tax dollars at work, and well-spent in my view. There are trail maps at regular intervals, created and placed deep in the park for my convenience. And other signs, warning the public that defacing public property is punishable by fines. These are apparently necessary, as they themselves are defaced, and I wonder why anyone would do that? It seems akin to spraying graffiti on one’s own home. If you like hiking enough to venture to the back part of the trails, why don’t you like it enough to respect the place for yourself and others who follow? And to make it worse, this person didn’t just mess up the sign – with “John loves Jessica” or somesuch – they sullied it with hate words. Somebody hiked a mile into the woods to write hate words on a park sign.