A month after my failed attempt to complete the strenuous Calero County Park hike described in the Healthy Trails brochure, I finally returned to Calero last week to finish the job.

The "job" involved hiking a 6.2-mile figure eight loop consisting of the Figueroa, Javelina, Pena, and Los Cerritos trails. It also involved a lot of mud. The recent storms had saturated the ground. The trails were walkable, but low points were still flooded and some spots where still soupy.

Because of the mud, footprints, tire tracks, and animal tracks were still visible.

For the first two miles, I barely left any prints of my own, but soon the mud started accumulating on the bottom of my boots and I could feel the soil starting to suck at my soles.

I was contemplating how far I could go before the suction removed the boot from my foot when I came across a skunk. As odd as it sounds, I had never seen a skunk in person. Before last Friday, skunks were smells on the highway and mythical creatures that sprayed my neighbor's dog. The only skunk I had ever seen was named Pepé.

Shortly after taking that photograph, I reached the Javelina Loop junction. Here is where the more scenic part of the hike began. Right away, I had a view of Calero Reservoir.

A little further along, I came across the Calero Bat Inn.

According to the interpretive sign in front of the inn, bats are critical insect predators. Some species are known to eat more than 1,000 mosquitoes per hour. Reading that factoid brought a smile to my face. I'm not a fan of mosquitoes and any animal that helps reduce the mosquito population is a friend of mine.

The factoid also raised a question in my mind. How did scientists manage to measure the mosquito consumption rate of bats? Did they hold a Mosquito Eating Contest? Is the bat that ate a thousand mosquitoes just your average, everyday bat, or is it the Takeru Kobayashi of the bat world?

Up to this point, the trail had been all downhill, but once I passed the inn, it was a steep climb to Fish Camp, the next point of interest. It had picnic tables, a water trough, and an observation deck overlooking the pond. It also offered a nice view of the trail.

After a quick snack, I sauntered back to the trail junction, passing a number of newts along the way. They were smart fellows that seemed to know the secret to a long life meant sticking to the trail shoulder. Even so, after I spotted the first one, I paid extra attention to where I was stepping.

Once I reached the trail junction, it was all familiar territory heading down to the trail head. Before setting foot in the car, I made sure to scrape the mud from the bottom of my boots. I didn't get it all off, but at least I no longer have platform Timberlands.

(For those keeping track at home, this is the first of five hikes needed to complete the Healthy Trails challenge.)