47 of 52
Scio Woods
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I wanted to build on my momentum, recognizing the end of the year was fast approaching. I headed out to Scio Woods for a quick 2 mile jaunt before heading to my second hike of the day. I took the right entrance upon my arrival and, for the most part, followed the red arrows to stay on the path. It was well traveled and decently easy to follow. I did fall at about 0.3 miles, which made me think for a second that my day may be over, but after getting my bearings and remembering how important it is to be careful because leaves can be extremely slippery, I went on my way. The are, in general, was pretty hopping. There were only about 5 parking spots at the trailhead, but there were many more cars and you came across a decent number of people. The fact that it was a decently mild December day may have had something to do with that though.
48 of 52
Bluff Nature Area
For my second trek, I headed out to Bluff Nature Area for what was supposed to be a 2.8 mile hike. I ended up only going 1.5 miles because I have some issues with going in pointless circles, which much of this path was, crossing back over itself multiple times. The elevation changes also ended up being pretty rough in places, so the shorter jaunt was probably better for my legs, especially after falling earlier in the day.
In general, I didn’t like how exposed I was, or, at least, felt. It didn’t really feel like you were in the woods, just on a stroll on the outskirts of downtown Ann Arbor. There were even some interesting views of downtown sprawled out in front of you a few times. It was cool to hike along cemetery property for a while, because I enjoy experiencing new cemeteries, but that seemed to be the only true highlight for this hike.
Raven K 