A Narrow Escape

I made it back to my favorite nature park the other day. It looks colder in my pictures than it actually is. The weather is getting so warm that the winter coat I was wearing was a little too much. All the snow is melting but there is still plenty here in the forest of the park.

There is a main trail to walk on, but I decided to go to the back of the nature center building where I saw the deer the last time I was here. I was hoping there was another trail back here. There was, but it was a deer trail, not one made by the humans of the park.

I decided to follow the deer trail anyway. I've followed deer trails many times before. They can go in interesting directions. I knew this one wouldn't be that exciting, but it's still fun to see just exactly where in the park it was going to lead.

I took this second picture to show you the deer tracks in the mud on the trail, but it shows something else a little better. Sure the deer tracks are there, but they're kind of difficult to see in the picture. You know what's easier to see? Mud.

If you read a couple of posts ago you might remember how I described slipping down a hill in the snow. At the end of the post I said it wouldn't be snow I'd slip on here, but it would be mud. Because of that I decided to follow this relatively flat deer trail.

Here's the fun part. On my way back out of the park I was walking down a slight incline on the trail. I had to cross from the left to the right of the trail. I couldn't walk down the center because it was too muddy. As I was crossing I stepped down with my left foot right in the middle. My foot slid out from under me and I slid about three feet down that trail on one foot.

Somehow I was able to keep from falling, but it was a very close call. I gotta say, I really hate when that happens. I mean I hate almost falling, not narrowly escaping. I thought I'd just clear that up.

But even with that little misadventure I had a wonderful time. I didn't see anymore deer but I had a nice short hike through the woods. I even saw a few other interesting things. Next time I'll try to get a little closer look at some of the more interesting things I saw.

I have to say it was good getting back in the woods. I didn't take the time to enjoy it this time though. I only really thought about it after it was over. Next time I'm going to stop and let myself really experience the forest. There's nothing else like it. I'll talk to you later.