I was camping at Siloam Springs State Park, which is a lovely piece of woodland amid an endless expanse of farmland. It's place where deer run around, hawks soar above, and you hear the honking of Canada geese migrating.
But before I describe the hike, I'd like to relate an experience I had. I was in the backroads of Brown County looking for an out-of-the-way graveyard, following a not-very-detailed map. The map led me along a narrow, winding gravel road in the middle of nowhere. The road looked something like this:
As I drove on, the road got rougher, narrower and bumpier. I started passing some run-down sheds, and arrived at a ramshackle farmhouse. There were several rusted-out vehicles by the side of the road, one looking like it was from the 1940s. There were chickens running around in the yard. As I drove on, the scene got wilder and more primitive. I started imagining the sound of banjos playing. And I saw shotgun shells on the ground. Time to turn around and get the hell out!
OK, back to the hike...
I hiked the longest trail in the park: the Red Oak Backpacker's Trail. It's actually a very mild hike compared to most of the hikes I've done in Taiwan. There were a few climbs and descents, but they were short. Most of the hike was level. It's 4 miles long (6km), and forms a loop.
Here's the trailhead:
The path got narrower, and crossed a stream a few times.
Eventually the trail crossed another one. I followed the trail that seemed the most well-worn, but it soon disappeared in the undergrowth. I figured I took a wrong turn, and went back to the crossing. I started climbing uphill, and soon saw a marker, so I knew I was on the right path. At the top, the path became wide again, and the vegetation was shrubby to my left, but there was a plantation pine forest to my right.
Every so often I encountered a pink dogwood tree, with its incongruously colorful flowers:
I arrived at the backpacker's campground, which is almost at the half-way point. To camp here you have to hike in; you can't drive here. I think it would be a very peaceful place to camp.
I decided to have my lunch here.
After a quiet lunch in total solitude, I continued on. Eventually the trail started working its way downwards into denser forest. And near the bottom, by a stream, I happened across a ruin:
In the 19th century, people used to come to this area to enjoy the benefits of healing spring waters. This crumbling limestone structure may be connected to that. Soon after this I was in a valley filled with wildflowers:
Then he trail went uphill. This was the roughest part of the entire trail, but it was still pretty easy.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a morel (Morchella esculenta), an edible mushroom. Right now is mushroom season, and people in the area often go into the woods this time of year to go mushrooming. Here's the morel that I saw. A lovely specimen.
I left it alone, for some other lucky mushroomer to find! I continued along the path, coming across a white dogwood.
Finally, the trail started curving to the left and going downhill into the valley below. I was coming to the end.
I went back to my campsite. What a great way to spend a few hours!!
