Healthy Trails: Mt. Madonna County Park

Last Friday, I was determined to go hiking and nothing was going to stop me.

"If the President calls, tell him he'll have to wait his turn," I told Abby. "Mt. Madonna called first."

Abby, by the way, is our cat and my personal assistant. Her top 5 responsibilities are to:

1. eat our supply of dry food at an alarming rate
2. use the litter box regularly (because someone has to)
3. shed enough hair to cover a second cat
4. wear a groove into the window sill from constant napping
5. answer the phone

On her last annual performance review, she received "Outstanding" on everything except #5. That one was a glaring "Improvement Needed".

But I digress.

Eager for the solitude only a walk in the woods could provide and equally as eager to complete my second Healthy Trails hike, I grabbed my daypack and drove to nearby Mt. Madonna County Park.

The strenuous hike outlined in the Healthy Trails guidebook is a 5.3-mile counterclockwise loop that follows the Merry-Go-Round, Loop, Iron Springs, Blackhawk, Contour, and Ridge Trails, and has more than a thousand feet of elevation gain. The good news is that all of the climbing happens in the first two miles, while one's legs are still fresh.

As I climbed Merry-Go-Round Trail, the noise of passing cars on Highway 152 gave way to the sounds of a trickling creek, which soon gave way to a steady silence.

Because this hike was nearly identical to the one I did last May, I knew what to expect when I reached the rocky grassland. Even so, the views still gave me pause.

Afterwards, I stopped by the Miller House Ruins to read and eat for a spell. It was so quiet and peaceful that I didn't want to leave. If I had a list of favorite reading spots, this would be on it.

The rest of the hike was a tranquil return to civilization. The silence of the ruins surrendered to the sounds of birds and a tumbling stream along the Blackhawk and Contour Trails. They were soon replaced with the noise of tires rolling on pavement as I approached the dirt and gravel parking lot.

When I got home, I said to Abby, "Any messages from the President?"

She replied with a curt meow, which I took to mean, "No, but you should know my bowl is empty and I'm taking the afternoon off."

You can see a few more photos from my hike on Flickr.