My plan was to go shoot my bow after I got a haircut from Donelle at The Edge Salon, but when I arrived at Lake Park all of the archery lanes were full up. I decided to go explore the park a bit instead of waiting. I started at the end of the parking lot and headed east (see below).
It was a nice walk around the lake. I couldn’t see much of the water, because there was a thick buffer of cat tails, shrubs, and trees, depending where I was on the path. But there were a lot of birds moving and chirping in the trees. I saw some animal tracks: maybe a rabbit, definitely a raccoon at one point.
Finally I came around to the T-intersection (blue arrows on map) that would take me back to my car.
However, I was faced with this:
I peeked, and the flooding didn’t look like it went on too far. I explored, and the water didn’t seem to be too deep.
I had a few options:
- I could go back the way I came. Not appealing.
- I could keep going. It was a longer way around than cutting across, but also not appealing. I wanted to take the short cut.
- I could give the flooded area a go. Worst case, I turn back around.
What did this stubborn, adventuring, living daringly lady do when faced with this “Danger” sign?
If you chose any option but #3, you obviously don’t know me very well.
I hiked up my pants, ignored the danger sign, and proceeded anyway!
I successfully navigated the first flooded area by walking on the plants the floated on the water on the side of the road. I only got wet up to my knees!
But, as I thought might happen, it turned out there was more flooding around the corner that I couldn’t see when I first decided to take the plunge. And, of course, the second area of flooding was 2-3x longer than the first.
But I was already wet, so I decided to proceed.
For this 2nd portion of the flooding, I procured a stick to help test the deepness of the water and the stability of the substrate before stepping. It didn’t really help much, but it at least confirmed that I wasn’t going to step into waist deep water without my prior consent.
The water never got any deeper than it did in the first area. And I had the added bonus of meeting a sandhill crane. I stalked him through the marsh, but he never flew away. (It might have been a lady. Not sure. No mate though.)
Finally I reached the end of the flooding, which abutted the parking lot I was parked in. If I had walked a bit to the west before starting my hike, I would have seen the big flooded area in all of its glory.
So, final thoughts regarding this adventure?
- I will more carefully consider “Danger” signs when I see them in the future.
- Beware of shortcuts. They may not be…
- Sometimes it’s a good thing when a plan fails.
- I’m very glad to have shared my walk with the sandhill crane.
- I had a very nice adventure today. I’m glad I followed the road less traveled!