1st June 2020
The days have been stifling hot. They weren’t your average hot spring days blessed with a warm breeze, but the sort that made you sweat while you showered. It was an unescapable heat, one which made the air too thick to breathe and weighed me down into a sleep-like state. The heat got to me, turned my body into a heavy log and lulled my brain to mush. It took almost two weeks to churn out my post on Bois-de-Liesse and I still believe it needs work.
But it rained last night, breaking the unnatural May heatwave, and I can say it’s nice to function again. Will and I took advantage of the cooler weather to pack our gear and drive up north. Without the heat to slow us down, we managed to get a couple of easy trails in. Which was nice, since our first stop made me uncomfortable to wander around. Seems like everyone’s taking advantage of all this free time and nice weather to head out to the national parks. We expected it, but a part of us still hoped that with all the wilderness, we wouldn’t have to run into too many people.
Yet it wasn’t the sheer amount of people, which bothered us—albeit it was a factor. We didn’t care much about running into a few families. Our first hike of the season saw us in trails with several other families, but we weren’t always following each other. Will and I had long stretches where all we could hear were the forest critters scuffling around. Whenever we did come across another group of hikers, we gave each other the recommended distancing set in place by stepping off the trail. Here, on our present hike, no one cared enough to keep their distance. With people crowding at the viewing decks, and occupy the middle of trails to take group pictures, Will and I hightailed it out of there for a quieter park forty minutes out.
We faired better at our second location for the day, not really coming across anyone.
On another note, I’ve been called back to work. I start Wednesday and I’m not eager. I knew the call was coming, but a part of me hoped it wouldn’t be a while.
Until next time.
