It was a good idea...
It's starting to get warm enough out in my neck of the woods that my wife and I have been itching to get out of the house and do some walking somewhere other than on our treadmill downstairs. The other weekend we went to this little park around the corner from our house, but we were dismayed to find out it was pretty much flooded when we got halfway around the path. Looking back, we should have turned around, but it was raining the whole time we were walking, and we were already wet, so we decided to slosh through the puddles.
We spent the rest of the day running our shoes through the dryer and agreed that we would not go back to that park until things dried up a bit more. The problem is, you can't really see the areas where it is flooded until you walk about a third of a mile back to that portion of the path.
Fast forward to this past weekend, and the weather was nice enough that we decided to get out and try out luck again in a different area. We went back and forth about which park we should visit, but we knew most all of them would probably be flooded in one way or another. It's just that time of year in Michigan. Despite the fact that the major river in one of the towns near us had just crested at 24 feet, we decided to try our luck anyway.
Things started out pretty decently. You could see where water had been when the river flooded, and you could see where water still was, but for the most part, the walking path was totally clear. We felt like we were making pretty good progress, and in fact we almost made it back to where our car was parked before we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle.
As we came up on this final area, I started to get a little worried that things were going to get bad. I could still see the path though, so I wasn't too worried about it.
Until I turned the corner and we saw this. The problem is, the grass wasn't that much drier even though it looks dry. Plus it was covered with mud, goose poop, and dog poop. By the time we got to the top of this hill to get a lay of the land, we were covered in mud (I hope that's all it was) from our ankles down.
I shared this photo the other day, but this was at the top of the hill looking at the flooded park below us.
If you look in the distance of this last photo to the right hand side, you can see the "tridge". That was our destination to get back to our car, and sadly, the path was not very clear. We worked our way around to the left of the water, but the damage was already done. @mrsbozz declared that we would be throwing away our shoes when we got home. She said there was no way we were going to bother trying to clean goose poop off our shoes.
This last photo is interesting because it shows just how high the water had come before it receded. Now, mind you, there have been years when that statue I shared earlier was nearly covered by water, if that gives you an idea of just how much this area floods.
Looking back now, we should have just turned around. The only problem is, we were almost done, so that would have turned our mile and a half walk into a three mile walk. I'm still kind of bummed about losing those shoes, even though they weren't new, it still feels like a waste of money.
I'll be including this post as a #wednesdaywalk submission sponsored by @tattoodjay. Also, @mrsbozz and I have started the preliminary steps of hunting down some comfortable waterproof hiking boots. Mostly by talking about it with each other and waiting to see if our devices are listening in on us. I figure I will give it a good two weeks to see if any ads start popping up in our feeds for hiking boots before we actually do a search for some.
If you have any recommendations on brands for high quality hiking boots that won't require a second mortgage, I am all ears, let me know in the comments!
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I just love that natural sepia effect bringing a dash of mistery in these pictures. 😍
Thanks, it was a pretty dreary day, but temperature wise it was a nice taste of spring.
Wet feet is the worst! On top of the fact of cleaning up the shoes, it just makes me cold.
Yeah, it was pretty miserable. The good thing is it was just a short drive home, but we are now looking into some waterproof footwear for instances like this.
It's disappointing to see the park in that state. Looks like spring has not arrived there yet. Here everything is green already.
We have another month until the green really starts coming back I think.
You should have just turned back, three miles is not that bad... I try to get 10,000 steps each day which is about five miles...
I typically get between 4000 and 7000 steps on the days that I work out. I expect it will go up a bit come summer.
It's a messy time of the year! You never really know what you're getting yourself into. I was faced with the dilemma of trudging forward or turning around when I found myself in those 18" of snow on the trail a few weeks ago. What a workout that was! Have you ever checked out Decathlon for gear? They're based in Europe so many of the brands are foreign but they sell some really awesome gear at good prices.
I have heard about Decathlon, but I have never checked there. This past winter I got a good deal on some snow boots from a company called Nortiv8 and it looks like they have waterproof hiking boots and shoes, so my wife and I have been browsing their site a bit. I went pheasant hunting about eight years ago now and we ended up walking through knee deep snow through most of the field. My legs were jello the next day I remember. It's funny because at the time it didn't seem that bad.
I've never heard of that brand! I've had a pair of snow boots I bought on Decathlon for about six years now and they have a few years left in them. We're so lucky to have such high tech gear available now. I remember in the 70's the parents would put bread bags on our feet to keep them dry in our shoes. I was sore too the next day after that expedition I took! I was hungry as a bear for the rest of the day too.
I'll have to check it out as another option. I don't think we are quite ready to buy yet, but I'd like to get something before summer comes around.
Goose poop, dog poop, and mud... yuk! 😬
I had to look up "The Trige" to see what it was. I expected it to be a bridge that had levels to allow vehicles, pedestrians, and trains to cross. But, it was even more impressive than that! A three-armed footbridge that crosses two rivers and connects three different parts of the city! Very cool! I bet that would be an awesome place on a warm evening, as the lights in the park are coming on, while the sunset fades in the sky overhead! 😊
The Tridge has been a staple of the area since I was a kid. I remember when they first built it. It still doesn't get quite the traffic I think they hoped it would, but it is a very photogenic spot on nicer days than this one!
That really sucks! A nice walk spoiled by flooding, and to add insult to injury it ruined your new shoes. It may have seemed like a great way to get some exercise, but mother nature had the last laugh on this one. I hope things dry out a bit soon to make those walks a little less "sloshy"!
I hope so too!
thisnis one of the things why i actually dont like raining season and thats because of the flood. One will enjoy the weather but you will be left to deal with floods everywhere. Its nice how you and your wife had a walk after been stucked indoor for so long. I am sure you enjoy the walk?
Yes, we enjoy walking together a lot. Not the flooding!
Thats nice. But you shouldn't not have reminded me about the flood again..🤣🤣🤣
Trust me, I get PTSD too. I wouldn't wish flooding on anyone. We had our basement flood back in 2020.