Cold Brook Preserve

Cold Brook Preserve (5/7/2011)

After undergoing inguinal hernia surgery just ten days ago, I wasn't sure how long I'd be out of commission. The surgeon told me to take it easy for six weeks (no climbing, no weight bearing). Last weekend, just days after surgery and still feeling very sore, I had no interest in going outside. But this past week I started feeling much better and my hankering for the trails came back big-time.

This sweet little sanctuary was just what the doctor ordered. It's only 30 minutes away, it's mostly level (except for some gentle undulations), and the trails are configured so that adding more and more onto a hike, or simply bailing, is very much possible. So today we headed here and by following this map, we hiked 3.5 miles in just over two hours covering the majority of paths in the preserve. We saw plenty of birds, thousands of tadpoles (I can't imagine how many frogs will be here in a month), a rabbit and a wily coyote that evaded my camera (the second time in a month). And spring is in the air! And it felt great! Achoo!

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