The Hiking LaFasto's - Rowlett Nature Preserve

So, turns out the whim to visit an abandoned Norwegian ghost-town is not the only wild hair we've had lately! We've decided to take up hiking! Alex has been reading a book about strengthening your brain (while I trudge through Jane Eyre screaming "NEVER give up! NEVER surrender!" inside my head as it feels like I'm literally wading through mud to get to the end), and he read that as we are descendants of neanderthals/cavemen/what-have-you, and they were quite accustomed to walking for really, really long periods out in nature, we have some deep-seated atavistic need to walk among the elements, and somehow doing so gets us in touch with our nomadic roots and makes us smarter. That was an extremely rough paraphrase, so don't go quoting me to your friends like I know you normally do (HA!), but hopefully it made sense. I realize some of you might be asking "How is it SMART to be hiking in Texas in 106-degree weather?" Believe me, I had that same question. But we got a book that has descriptions of 60 hikes within 60 miles of DFW, and it categorizes them in different ways, one of which being "Shady" or "Sunny". For our first hike, we definitely went with "Shady" and that led us to the Rowlett Nature Preserve in Garland, TX. It was beautiful. And the shade made the temperature a good 15 to 20 degrees cooler; in some places it literally felt "cool". No, seriously! Dresden was a trooper and made it the whole 2.25 miles we did, leading the way and keeping an eye out for "nakes" for us (thank goodness we didn't see any!) It was so nice to be outside and not be dying for once, and to see all the great green archways above and around us. And aside from the dozens of bikes that came whizzing by unannounced (in Colorado you always heard "ON THE LEFT!" from far behind you, which was really nice), but Alex served as our bike look-out, and Dresden got the hang of it and would say "Biker comin' Mama! Huuwy up oudda da way!" to let us know as well.

At the trailhead

Off we go...

Beautiful, green canopy

Contemplating nature?

Our path

Looking at bugs

I saw the heart-shaped shadow this leaf cast and made Alex take a picture

A happy little hiker!

Water break!

For me, too :-)

A natural arc

A neighbor's house...thankfully they were not home!

Are those not the WEIRDEST, but coolest antennae you've ever seen?!

One of many locust shells we found...Locust shells make me happy (when I get over the skeeved-out feeling they give me) because my Grandad (knowing they skeeved me out) used to leave them in little white jewelry boxes on my pillow when I'd come to visit. I think a few times he didn't even use a box. Ha Ha Grandad, REAL funny! So these are just kind of a special reminder of him.

Made it through Mile 1!

"Where do we go next, Trailmaster Dresden?"

Investigating a biker's teeter-totter

Alex continuing to flex his nature photographer muscles!

My turn! Alex and Dresden

Sweet, sweaty boy!

Deep in conversation

See Mr. Locust (shell)?

This picture appeared in the viewfinder by accident (unfocused and the wind was blowing), but I snapped it on purpose because I thought it looked like a painting, and I kind of love the way it turned out! Especially the sunburst peeking from behind the one on the right.

Continuing on to make it to Mile 2

A cardinal, always an omen of happiness and calm for me

A natural portal

A really awesome moth we stumbled upon quite by accident

Turns out making the number two fingers is actually a LOT harder than you'd think!

We got it! Made it to Mile 2!

Alex's turn to mark Mile 2

Flashing some gang signs?

"Hiking is AWESOME!!!"

We were so impressed that Dresden made it 2.25 miles with very minimal "hold you?"-ing, and that he was happy and patient and curious the whole time. The shade made the walk wonderful. The sunny spots just made you appreciate walking back under the trees all the more. Next time, I'm hoping we can do the full 4 miles (it's a double-loop trail), but this was good for Dresden's first time. The only thing we really didn't like was all the bikers, but the guidebook mentioned them, so I did have fair warning. We are going to attempt at least one different hike/long nature-trek every weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it, especially as the weather begins to cool off. Also, it's great exercise! According to my trusty heart rate monitor I burned over 300 calories, and we weren't even walking all that quickly, so I'm all for that! :-)

Anyone have any ideas/places to go for the best hikes here in North Texas?! We'd love to hear them.

Love,

Cassie