{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 31: Nature

Saturdays have started to be known as "Adventure Saturday." 

Last Saturday, Henri was getting some portraits taken to benefit a local pet fostering organization.Knowing Henri as I do, I took him early so he could get used to the new environment and so we could walk off some nervous energy, in hopes that he would be able to relax for pictures.Well, I am a genius and this worked like a charm! The pictures turned out great and we found a new place to run!

This Saturday, since we'd had a few days off during the week, we went back to run.This is a forest preserve, so there's lots of grasslands, prairie and wooded areas. It's very scenic and perfect for an adventure. Today might have gotten a little too adventurous for my taste.

We started simple enough with our usual three mile run. I planned to start at the 1.5 mile marker, which was close to where we had parked the week before, and run down to the 0.0 mile marker and back. I didn't know how to get to the 0.0 mile marker parking lot and we hadn't had time to walk all the way down there the previous week. I was told there were several spots for water along the path, so I didn't carry water with me, just a collapsible bowl for Henri for once we got to the water. I could also tell from our walk the previous week that this was going to be a more hilly experience than we were used to, so I made sure we conserved our energy. It was a challenging run, but we made it through. That's when I decided we were going to explore some more. It was still early. We had sat in the shade, cooled down and had some water. We had time and energy to keep going.

I had lots of photo ideas for Henri, so we started to explore the prairie trails, stopping to take some pictures. We would go off the path, into the trails, take our picture and head back to the path again. On our final trek back, there was a couple walking their dog behind us. Henri was concerned, even though this little rat terrier was nothing to be concerned about, but Henri just wanted to keep his eye on him. I took Henri off the path onto another trail so he could relax again. This time, instead of turning back, I figured we would just continue on the trail and come back out further on down the path, avoiding the increasing dogs and people and getting plenty of scenery. Yeah, I got us lost. 

We weren't really lost because we were on a trail, but I didn't know where the trail went and it kept meeting up with other trails and I must have a horrible sense of direction because we ended up on the outside of the forest preserve. I kept seeing signs for 5 mile trails, but I certainly didn't want us out there for another 5 miles. I could walk 5 miles. I didn't want to, but I could do it. Henri could, too, but I didn't really know where these 5 mile trails would take us, if they would be in the shade or in the sun.  We also didn't have water with us and I did not want Henri getting dehydrated. I started to panic a little, mostly out of concern for Henri. I would try a different path, a different direction in hopes that it was heading in the direction back to the path, but it never seemed to. Who could I call? It's not like I could tell someone where I was and I didn't want to just stop moving and wait for someone. 

I just needed to stop and think for a minute. I technically knew where we were. I just needed to go back the way we came and get going in the right direction. I had used my phone GPS to get us to the park, so I pulled it out and used it again. I used the map that came up to follow the direction back towards the place we had parked, knowing it would lead us through the trails we had just taken and back to the path.

I had just needed a moment to breathe. Soon, we were back on the path and on our way to water. Crisis averted. We were never really in any danger. Henri was fine. He had never wilted. He wasn't even that thirsty when we got to the water. He was just ready to go home and so was I. We ended up walking 5 miles after all was said and done. I'm sure if we had stayed on the trails, it would have been more.

Anyway, I did get some great pictures. And it is going to be a great place to run, maybe once it cools down a little more. It's always nice to have more places to run, but I am seriously considering getting a backpack for Henri so he can carry some water :)