Last weekend we had a spectacular Indian summer of warm temperatures and blue skies that I took advantage of to complete the Summit County MetroParks Fall Hiking Spree. We had warm summer like temperatures and clear weather and leaves that are just beginning to turn and in some cases fall, so it seemed the perfect time to get outside and enjoy what is doubtless going to be some of the final nice weather of the season before dreary and overcast skies and chillier days become the norm. So, hiking staff and water bottle in hand, I took off on Saturday to hike the Silver Creek Pheasant Run trail, which is what began my involvement in the Fall Hiking Spree back in September of 1999. Some friends and I were driving back from Wooster along Rte. 585 and we stopped at Silver Creek to do some hiking. When we were done, my friends told me that I had just completed a trail for the Fall Hiking Spree and that I ought to do the rest that season and get a form to mark down the trails I'd hiked, so I was off and running and have successfully completed the Fall Hiking Sprees ever since. This year marked my 10th completed spree and I am grateful that I was able to do it this year, because I have been battling a painful Achilles tendon injury for some time now, and having just gotten out of a cast a month ago that I had to wear for 4 long months, I wasn't sure that my leg would be up to the demands of the trails out there, but sure enough, it held up, if occasionally reminding me that the injury, while doing better, isn't fully healed yet. Last weekend was a reminder of that. On my final hike, along the Cherry Lane/Fernwood trail at the F.A. Seiberling NatureRealm, my ankle pained me greatly and I was happy for the fact that I had my hiking staff with me to lean upon for support. By the time I was done, it was throbbing angrily and letting me know that perhaps I had overdone it just a bit, but still, the fact that I completed the spree on a perfect and beautiful summer like weekend was exactly what I could have hoped for, given that, owing to my cast still being on in early September, I was forced to get a little later start than I would have liked to have gotten.
As I commenced my hike along the trail, I came upon a bunch of people standing along a part of the trail who were holding out their hands and whistling. I wondered what was going on and I began to notice that little black capped chickadees were coming and eating right out of their hands! They had some sunflower seeds and they let me have a go at this, so I had to position myself to have the best opportunity to attract these adorable little birds to eat out of my hand. After a while, they began coming to me. It felt so amazing to hold a little chickadee and watch it nibble seeds out of my hand. To feel their little feet wrapping around my fingers and having such close contact with a wild bird like that was truly remarkable. They would occasionally chirp or sing to us as we fed them and then they would flitter away back up to the relative safety of a tree. I could hear the rush of their wings and even feel it as they flew away from my hand. I was deeply moved by this up close and personal experience with nature. I don't know if this would work at home or whether the birds there are just used to human contact, but I would love to try it. The closest I have gotten to a similar experience is to have squirrels and chipmunks up on the KSU campus eat out of my hands, but you have to be careful not to get bitten in the process! Since chickadees do tend to stick around during the winter months, and food does tend to be a bit scarcer during that season, I may try feeding them in my own yard or up on campus and see if they flitter up to my open hand. It's amazing how much deeper an appreciation you have for nature when you actually get to touch it and feel it up close. It increases your sense of how fragile each little creature is and yet how durable they are as well as they survive out in the wilds instead of in the comfort of a climate controlled house like we live in. Ah, if only Henry David Thoreau could have seen what we did last weekend, having birds come right up to us and eat out of our hands. I am sure that he would have approved!
Last weekend we had a spectacular Indian summer of warm temperatures and blue skies that I took advantage of to complete the Summit County MetroParks Fall Hiking Spree. We had warm summer like temperatures and clear weather and leaves that are just beginning to turn and in some cases fall, so it seemed the perfect time to get outside and enjoy what is doubtless going to be some of the final nice weather of the season before dreary and overcast skies and chillier days become the norm. So, hiking staff and water bottle in hand, I took off on Saturday to hike the Silver Creek Pheasant Run trail, which is what began my involvement in the Fall Hiking Spree back in September of 1999. Some friends and I were driving back from Wooster along Rte. 585 and we stopped at Silver Creek to do some hiking. When we were done, my friends told me that I had just completed a trail for the Fall Hiking Spree and that I ought to do the rest that season and get a form to mark down the trails I'd hiked, so I was off and running and have successfully completed the Fall Hiking Sprees ever since. This year marked my 10th completed spree and I am grateful that I was able to do it this year, because I have been battling a painful Achilles tendon injury for some time now, and having just gotten out of a cast a month ago that I had to wear for 4 long months, I wasn't sure that my leg would be up to the demands of the trails out there, but sure enough, it held up, if occasionally reminding me that the injury, while doing better, isn't fully healed yet. Last weekend was a reminder of that. On my final hike, along the Cherry Lane/Fernwood trail at the F.A. Seiberling NatureRealm, my ankle pained me greatly and I was happy for the fact that I had my hiking staff with me to lean upon for support. By the time I was done, it was throbbing angrily and letting me know that perhaps I had overdone it just a bit, but still, the fact that I completed the spree on a perfect and beautiful summer like weekend was exactly what I could have hoped for, given that, owing to my cast still being on in early September, I was forced to get a little later start than I would have liked to have gotten.
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