This past weekend, my husband & I decided to take advantage of a rare free Saturday to take an invigorating winter walk at a local(ish) nature preserve. It was a beautiful day, even if it was only 30 degrees out not counting the wind chill... We'd been to this preserve once before (to take some senior pictures of Jenna) and we've wanted to go back ever since then to see more of it. It's so peaceful out there. Kokiwanee nature preserve features bluffs along the Salamonie River and streams tumbling down waterfalls to flow into the river, so says the brochure/map. We took a trail we hadn't been on before (thank you, Phoebe!) and had quite an adventure.
It was cold, especially with the brisk wind-- but it didn't take too long to get warmed up "walking" at the pace that Phoebe sets on a walk. That girl loves to hike! This time of year, I have trouble seeing where the trail is with leaves covering everything. Luckily, Phoebe has no trouble finding it, so I just let her follow her nose and we never get lost. (Which surprises me. She'll point out every deer trail that crosses the path, but after she's sniffed her fill-- she always continues on the foot path.)
The new trail she took us on led to the Salamonie River. After we convinced her we DIDN'T want to take the quick way down the bluff, we found a safer spot to hike down to the water. Phoebe has good ideas. The river was the place to be on this hike. It wasn't long until we saw a bald eagle soaring above the river! We followed it downstream a while until the trail dead ended at one of the park's waterfalls. Very cool! As we made our way back along the river to where the river path meets another trail, Phoebe made a friend.
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| Why, hello Mr. River Otter! |
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| Who knew that the sound otters make when they're showing off sounds a lot like Lola when she's got a hairball??? |
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| They make swimming look so fun! |
I think we hiked the rest of the trail with smiles plastered on our faces. It was just such an unexpected treat to see such a thing so close to home. I don't know how many trails we've hiked in the 23 years that we've been married, but this one is my new favorite! :)
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| Phoebe & I at the top of the falls |
We continued on and enjoyed the rest of the trail. There's just nothing that's quite as restful as being out enjoying God's creation... And if seeing the eagle and watching the otter weren't enough to make this trip memorable, as we were leaving we had one more photo opportunity.
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| Lunch time for eagles! |
I know it's hard to see in that photo, but we actually saw MORE eagles on our trip out. At first we only noticed 2 eagles in a tree across the river, about 200 yards away. One of them was actually eating a fish. Next thing I knew, a big brown bird came along and scared that eagle away. Then I realized we were watching a family: mom & dad eagle with 2 younger eagles that didn't have their mature feathers yet!
We were really too far away to get any good photos with our camera, but it was a thrilling experience for me! This is only the second time in my whole life that I've seen bald eagles in the wild. (And apparently it doesn't take much to impress me...) It was a great day! I can't wait for warmer weather so that it will be easier to get outdoors more often! We've already scoped out at least 2 more Acres Land Trust nature preserves that we'd like to go check out next! If you're in Northern Indiana, Northwestern Ohio, or Southern Michigan-- check out Acres property list to see if there is a nature preserve close to you! http://www.acreslandtrust.org/
