Last Saturday I spent an hour and 40 minutes slow hiking the UWGB arboretum trails. Normally I get my 30 minutes of exercise in and move on to the next thing that needs to be done. This time, I knew I had a couple hours to myself. I took in every detail. Well, eventually.
I headed outside just to get some fresh air and exercise but almost immediately I glanced down and saw perfect little mammal tracks in the dirt along side the road.My best guess is they are raccoon prints, but I always guess raccoon so…
I took it as a nudge to keep looking. Up. Down. All over. To slow down and take it all in.
Once I started looking, I spotted so many animal tracks. Obvious ones, like deer tracks, were all over. The rabbit tracks were easy to identify (or so I thought. It turns out they were squirrel tracks…)
Cross country skis, fat tire bike, and human tracks, all easy peasy. Then I thought I saw a bunch of ski pole tracks but there were SO many leading off into the brush.
It finally dawned on me, they were turkey tracks!
A bit farther down the trail, I found loads of squirrel tracks and then another unknown animal that I will guess is raccoon, but who knows? A small mammal at any rate.
My curiosity kept me moving and onto the Bay’s icy shore where the sunlight glittered on trees glazed in ice, winter kisses from the waves of Lake Michigan.
And paper thin sheets of ice floating on the water’s edge, layering the shoreline, air bubbles moving under them as the waves moved in and out.
And then, it was time to head back.
It was an afternoon well spent. I got some exercise, slow exercise admittedly, but still better than napping and watching Hallmark Christmas movies all day. I had some valuable and rare Me Time. Best of all, I got to play in the snow and spend some time soaking up good old Mother Nature.
There’s so much winter beauty still out there! My favorite winter slow hiking spots are UWGB’s Arboretum, Barkhausen, Baird Creek, and Osprey Point. Know of any others? What other spots should we check out this winter?