Hiking, and Kayaks,, and Bears??

This morning I woke up, slightly groggy after a great day on my deck with friends, and decided, ” I need to go hiking.” I showered, packed, and was on the road in no time, excited to be heading somewhere “new.”

After a quick bite at a little take out diner in Maple Creek, I ventured into the park. ( $7 day pass). I knew there were trails along Loch Leven, so headed around the cute little lake to where I had taken my class on a field trip. My students and I had hit up a trail that looped around, and I hoped to find one like that. In true Christine fashion, I had no maps to guide me.

The Trail I found turned out to be a part of the Trans Canada Trail. From previous knowledge, I had a feeling this one didn’t loop, but headed in anyway.

I decided to put my big camera away and just take a few pictures with my cell phone. Luckily, I posted a few pictures online along the way, because I just lost all of my cell phone pictures while trying to put them on my computer! Grr. I guess that is just pushing my, ” Enjoy the experience instead of taking so much time behind the camera idea…”

The hike was great. Trees reaching up to the skies, wild flowers lining the path, twists, turns, and then an open meadow. About 40 minutes had passed when I came to this opening. Around this time, my husband was lecturing me for not taking a knife or any safety gear to ward off rapists or bears. Bears like open fields. Ya, my mind went there. I almost used that as an excuse to not climb the big hill in front of me. At the top I could see a nice bench and I just knew the view from the top would be awesome!

It was. And I’d love to show you a picture, but can’t.

That bench had a quote on it. Something about letting your mind wander as your feet do. It was a good quote, but I lost that picture, too. So, I sat on that bench and let my mind wander as I drank some water and enjoyed the view, ignoring the thoughts of murderers and rapists, and woman eating bears. Thinking more about freedom and my hopes for the kids this August.

The way back was a lot of uphill and I worked up a good sweat. Loch Leven sure looked inviting! I sat at the end of the lake watching Kayakers, a family of ducks, and swimmers in the distance.

Then, I went and rented a kayak! Only $12 and hour or $9 for half an hour. It was such a peaceful place to paddle around, even if I day dreamed about flipping the kayak and loosing my cell!

A half hour later I sat on the balcony of the little grill that overlooks the lake and enjoyed an ice cold rye and coke. And a pecan tart. Yay me for packing the calories right back on after a good hike.

I look forward to my next trip to Cypress Hills!