Afton State Park: Roses and Photo Bombs

It was a beautiful drive along back roads over to Afton State Park from where we live. The air had a slight edge to it, one of those signs that fall is approaching. When we went to the park office to get our annual park permit, we were also able to get our first reward: the 25-mile patch! There are 197 total miles of hiking to complete the hiking club checklist, so we’re only about 13% of the way there, but it still felt like a little victory. The Afton hike adds 2.5 miles to our total.

The first part of the hike is a short interpretive prairie loop with informational signs along the way to help you identify grasses, flowers and (if you are among the blessed) any animals you might see. I took photos, but didn’t actually work very hard at the identifying part.

When we got started on the rest of the hike, we were joined for part of the time by a fellow carrying a bucket and a fishing pole, clearly an enthusiastic ready for action. Kris asked him, “What are you fishing for today?” “I don’t know,” he admitted, “whatever I can get.” I asked if he fished there regularly and it turned out he’d never been there before. It was sounding more and more like he was a novice at this whole thing. He said he thought it sounded better than sitting around doing nothing. Not being at all interested in fishing, I could probably have argued that point, but didn’t. Kudos to him, I say!

We crossed a nice bridge and after our last hike, I don’t take these for granted anymore. Take note, Carley State Park, this is a bridge:

There seemed to be some sort of unofficial run going on – we saw several groups of runners. There’s nothing like watching someone else running to make you glad that you’re walking.

We went down a long stairway at one point (which always causes me to reflect on the fact that we’ll have to go back up).

Eventually, we were hiking right next to the ski resort part of Afton, a place that brought back memories of going downhill skiing there with friends when I was in high school. They were really good at it and I was more of a newbie, so my favorite part was when we got to the bottom of the ski run and went to the chalet for hot chocolate.

The trails were identified by letters and after we passed a sign for the P trail, Kris observed that it would have been a good place for a bathroom. He’s a very entertaining fellow to hike with.

We came to an overlook where someone had laid roses down on the wood railing. This stirred my imagination and curiosity.

Roses in the wilderness
Upon a wooden rail
But no one told their story
It was an untold tale

A wedding? An anniversary?
(Roses speak of love)
But no one was there to answer,
No voice came from above.

‘Twas better left unexplained –
To give us food for thought.
We left them as we found them,
Unsullied and unsought.

I originally put as the last line: “Where they’ll sit and slowly rot,” but it seemed to end the whole thing on a downer.

There was a moment when we got confused about signage and retraced our steps to make sure we hadn’t missed a turn. When we realized we had been on the right trail, we turned around again and passed by a woman who asked jovially, “Are you as lost as I am?” We shared a moment of laughter and moved on, but got to thinking about the question. Geographically, it was pretty straightforward, but on a spiritual level, it’s quite a bit deeper. Lost? Not anymore. As John Newton put it: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found – was blind but now I see.

After an uphill trudge at the end, we sat down on a bench and decided to take an “end-of-the-hike” selfie.

At that moment one the of the runners was going behind us and tried to photo bomb the selfie. “Did I make it in?” she called out after going by. “No, but if you come around again, we’ll give it another try,” I shouted. She was running in circles to complete a certain number of miles, so when she made it back around a couple minutes later, we got it done.

Isn’t that cheery?

Thanks for joining us on another hike. We have an ambitious hiking schedule coming up, by the way – many miles and many more words and pictures from me.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

I’ll probably delete this in the morning…

Next Hike: Great River Bluffs State Park