2 of 40: tasty trail & dave's maze

Yesterday afternoon found our family at Landahl Park in eastern Jackson County. The trails at the park are specifically made for mountain biking, but hiking is welcome as well. My husband had biked some years previous, but we'd never been out here as a family. 

Our winters can be such a gray, dreary time that we've decided to take a day here and there to change up the weekday schedule and go out for a hike. The children did not complain about having a free day and the hike was wonderful for me as I had headaches through the week and not feeling well. It was a bit cold, hovering at freezing temperatures, for the hike but since we've hiked in 13 degree weather we now have no excuse! Starting out I wasn't really into hiking, but as we moved along the actual trails were rocky and scenic and the fresh air did me good (as I knew it would!). We even saw a couple of deer and, of course, many birds. 

Since the trails are near a shooting range, we did frequently hear gunshots. It didn't bother us, but if you're looking for total tranquility you may not find it here with that noise in the background. We began hiking on the Tasty Trail but then found our way back to the trail head on Dave's Maze for a total of 3.9 miles. Like many other trails these loop and overlap allowing the hiker to lengthen or shorten his hike at will. 

With the varying inclement weather this month it was great to get another hike in before month's end. I have two hikes penciled in for February; we'll see if the weather cooperates to allow for it.