Last weekend I visited Greenleaf State Park, just east of Muskogee. I’d never been. I was pleasantly surprised. The cabins were some of the nicest state park cabins I’ve cozied up in, and the hiking trail was everything I could want a hiking trail to be. (Oh, except for that landowner across the highway who marked his land with blue flagging that matched the blue hiking trail markers. Shame on you! But thanks for letting me accidentally detour onto your lovely property).
The trail is clear enough to see, but primitive enough that you really feel like you are hiking and have to keep an eye on the trail markers. The terrain is interesting and beautiful and changes throughout; goes across bridges and roads and up and down hills and rocky slopes and skirts the lake. It's perfect.
Day one was cold and drizzly. Despite that I got a nice glimpse of a hawk, an Eastern Bluebird (one of my favorites!), and a group of five deer that were bold enough to hang out right in the middle of the camp ground. My dog and I enjoyed the warm cabin while a night-time thunderstorm passed, and Sunday was the most beautiful day that I could ask for. We set off to knock out as much of the 18-mile hiking trail as possible before I had to drive back home. Admittedly, that was only a few miles in and then a u-turn to head back out.
I kept stopping to bend down and admire all the different species of moss and lichen and tiny ferns that were growing everywhere, and to peer at the water looking for critters.
Oh. And there was that whole detour onto private property that I mentioned earlier. That took some time, too. But that’s the beauty of hiking – not being in a race with anyone. Having a chance to stop and smell the… moss.
And I got a tick! In FEBRUARY! Curses to you, freaky warm tick-breeding winter!
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