After visiting Whitefish, I made my way to Kalispell and Herron Park, still in the heat wave. I’m sure 97 degrees doesn’t sound hot to my friends and relatives in Texas. But Texans have air conditioning. VANgo only has air conditioning if plugged in, and I hadn’t made any reservations at campgrounds, which were full.
As a result, from about 3pm to 9pm every day, I couldn’t get the temperature down below 90 degrees despite opening all the doors and windows and running the fan!
Consequently, my hiking dwindled to short efforts. I found a network of trails at Herron Park. The park is near a rural neighborhood and features a dressage ring and cross-country course at the trailhead.
The parking area was full upon my arrival, and I shared the trail with mountain bikers, runners and hikers that all seemed to know where they were going. They clearly used the park for their daily exercise.
The Hike
I selected a 3.5 mile loop on AllTrails that connected Notch Trail, Overlook Trail and Plum Trail. Had a I paid attention to the names or walked clockwise like the AllTrails recording, the loop might have been easier to follow. But there were several intersecting trails and the blue dot, which represented me on the map, didn’t find the right path on my first try very often! It felt like my GPS was slightly off or delayed at each turn.
The moderate hike was a little harder than I expected as it climbed up the hill to a viewpoint. I liked the switchbacks on the descent with a lovely view of the lake. However, the path didn’t knock my socks off all. If this were my daily place to exercise outside, I would have loved it. It beats the concrete in Dallas. I just prefer a rugged terrain when hiking.
It served its purpose of getting me and Annie a little exercise though, and that is all that mattered. Dogs were required to be leashed, and with all the traffic I did so. As a result, I doubt Annie had as much fun as normal!
In three days, the temperature will go back to normal, so I will be back in business. In the meantime, I have finally checked into a hotel. Annie and I are enjoying the air-conditioning! ETB
Awww, that’s a sweet picture of Annie!
Sweet girl. Thank you!!