Tag: rain

The Search for Frog Pond

Going for a Monday hike has become my weekly nature ritual. Today I decided to take a trail I’ve been meaning to take for a while, one that leads to a quaint pond filled with frogs. It’s called Frog Pond, for obvious reasons.

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The trail I attempted. Look at me; so cute and full of hope. 5 miles feels a lot longer when it’s raining.
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Homemade trail mix! Just raw almonds and Ghiradelli chocolate chips. I ate it all.
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Some sort of newt. So cute! There were so many on the trail that I almost stepped on.

I started off so innocently, stepping over newts and enjoying my trail mix. I hiked in a drizzle that kept my hood up for the most part, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

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A glimpse of the fog across the way. Back when it was still a drizzle and I could take my hood down for a little bit.

Soon, I encountered the trail signs below, which I misinterpreted, and went off the trail for about a quarter of a mile. That said, I did follow a deer trail until it ended in the underbrush, so it was easy enough for me to follow it back to the actual trail.

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Confusing (at the time) trail signs. The reason I got lost (for real).

After that, I encountered an actual fork in the trail and decided to go right, thinking I hadn’t yet hit the fork I was anticipating from the map. This trail led to a small pond, where I scared a couple of ducks, but seemed to end there. So I went back and took the left trail.

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Not Frog Pond.

After that, the trail went up a hill absolutely covered with scotch broom, and the drizzle became heavier and combined with water from the underbrush to totally drench my rain jacket. So I put on my emergency poncho to keep from getting even wetter. At some point, I turned a corner and realized I was thick in some fog and couldn’t see much more than the trail directly in front and behind me.

Let me pause here to explain that I hate the fog. The first time I walked out into the fog when we lived in Santa Rosa, I nearly had a panic attack. It freaks me out. I don’t like not being able to see, and I feel very vulnerable in it.

So it was at this point I decided I had hiked too far and somehow missed Frog Pond. I turned around and headed back the way I had come. On my way back, I looked at the map on my phone again and realized I was SO CLOSE to Frog Pond. If I had just gone a little further, I would have found it.

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The look on my face when I got done.

Oh well! I was still fun, and I got a good three hours of hiking in. Will I try to actually find Frog Pond next week? I don’t know! I might try a different trail next week! We’ll see. Until then!