I looked at my camera roll for the past couple months and realized I managed to go hiking every week/weekend for over 10 weeks. So many wonderful micro adventures really makes me happy!

I went to Owen Conservation Park a couple times, which is only a few minutes from my office, making it very convenient to go for a quick hike on a lunch break. It sits on top of a hill overlooking part of the city, with prairies full of coneflowers and goldenrods in summer and fall and oak savannas and woodlands. I like to take the most outer, longest trail which goes through both prairie and woodland terrain and is about one mile. What a wonderful mid-day reprieve from sitting in front of a computer!

We hiked the trail close to our house which goes for miles and miles through the city and to the next few towns. It’s an old railroad track that was converted to a trail, used by many hikers, runners, bikers and cross-country skiers and snowmobilers in winter.

I also hiked a few times in the woods at my parent’s lake house in northern Wisconsin, which is always a treat. These trails are so off-the-beaten-path that we rarely run into others.

On another beautiful weekend day, we hiked in the Arboretum, on trails through the Lost City Forest, which was a thick woods and narrow winding footpath trails and a couple boardwalks crossing creeks. It was quite magical with all the cool lichen and mushrooms we noticed throughout the woods.

We hiked one of our favorite places, Indian Lake County Park, again taking the longest trail winding all the way around the park, mostly through hilly woods. Always magical there!

We were lucky to go hiking twice in the same weekend on trails close to our house. One was new to us, Madison School Forest, an old oak forest open to the public and used for school programming. There were so many oak and maple leaves on the trail that we couldn’t see the trail for awhile. We had the place all to ourselves so it was very peaceful and tranquil.

I don’t travel much so love going out on these local micro adventures which are like mini vacations. It’s especially a treat to be able to get out there during the work week. So good for my mental health and my adventurous spirit. I’m hoping for lots of winter hiking in the next few months.