During these sweltering days of mid-July, hiking for us is
best early in the day in areas that provide deep shade. This is especially important for
Finnegan, our elderly canine hiking companion with heart failure.
Great Bear Recreation Park on the outskirts of Sioux Falls
is probably the best place in the area for an extended walk in the deep shade
of large leafy trees.
There are several hiking trails within Great Bear, ranging
from steep climbs up to sunny open meadows to lowland trails that are mostly in
full or dappled shade. At this
time of year, we generally choose the lowland and shady trails that wind back
into the park along well- developed pathways.
Passing the lodge, the first feature encountered is a large
pond that separates the pathways into the wooded area. The pond at this time of year is often
covered in part with green algae. To
me, the full or scattered algae growth has its own special charm in this body
of still water with no outlet.
Over the years, I have seen ducks, geese, lots of turtles,
as well as tadpoles and frogs in the pond. I like to pause along the shoreline of the pond to look over
the animal and plant life that lives there.
On the trip today, Finnegan and I kept to the lower
trails. My wife and I have a
hiking pattern in which we cut along the right side of the pond on a rougher
trail, continue down to a fork where the trails pass along either side of a
wooded and steep hill and turn right again.
We return along a rougher pathway to the fork and then turn
right again, heading deeper into the woods. This trail continues to a roofed bench that has become the
watering hole for Finnegan.
A walk through the lower trails takes about 45 minutes at
our slow pace. Today, we did not
encounter anyone in the park or along the trail.
The temperature had increased to about 80 degrees and the
skies were clear as we finished our walk.
Great Bear is less than fifteen minutes from our home on the east side
of the city, so we got in a nice stroll through a beautiful nature area before
the full strength of the sun brought us to a stupor.
For additional narratives and photos of Great Bear at
various seasons, go to the menu of area hiking possibilities on the right side
of the blog.
Additional photos of our hike today can be found on my Flickr account at the following URL:
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