#80 - Hiking with someone you love

Two new hikes to report:

1) Washington State Park (Oct 16-17th) - Backpacked the 6 mile Rockywood Trail. This was my first solo backpacking trip. I have to admit it was kind of scary being out alone. Did you know that at 3 o'clock in the morning an acorn falling off of a tree sounds like Death coming for you? True fact.

Nice trail, and as it turned out I was pretty well prepared. Should have tossed in an extra quart of water, but it wasn't critical. One note, the area highlight of Native American rock carvings are kind of a letdown, and not worth making the trip for alone.

2) Englemann Woods Natural Area (October) - A pleasant little 2 mile day hike out past St. Albans, MO. Not much to say, just a pretty jaunt through the woods. The guidebook is correct that you should carpool to the trail-head since parking is non-existent.

P.S.A.: Dogs on trails are fine, and even letting them off the leash is acceptable (though technically wrong). But either have the dog trained or have some means to control them. This public service announcement is because at Englemann I bumped into a dog without a collar or a leash and while the owners were there and the dog was friendly, it was a bit overactive and jumped and bumped.