You could still beat us. Maybe. If you’re fast. Or waterproof.
I Know Not to “Make Precise Plans”
Yet, I made a whole plan this morning. Mapped everything out. A full-ass waterfall route, organized and optimistic. And then we didn’t follow a single part of it after the first stop. Typical.
We started at Cascades in Elyria. Real cute, real scenic, real fucking hot. It was already pushing 85 by the time we got there, and the air wasn’t moving at all. Nothing but still heat baking into the rocks and the back of our necks. We were out there trying to appreciate nature while actively evaporating. So we did the reasonable thing. Looked at the rest of the route, looked at each other, and said fuck it. Loop-de-loop detour time.
We rerouted ourselves straight to Old Mill Trail. I almost called it Old Man Trail out loud, and honestly, I stand by that. It fits. By the time we pulled up, it was about to start raining. It got just steady enough to soak you, just warm enough out that we didn’t care anymore. We were already overheating, so it felt more like a reset than an inconvenience. So we hiked anyway. Me hiding my phone under ,y hat and not my hat hiding my head.
We did both sides of the trail loop. Just about three miles total, maybe a little under, all while completely drenched. The trail was soft and wet but passable, and the creek was running clear. Luna got in the water a couple different times to cool off and honestly I thought about following her. At that point, nothing mattered but staying moving and not slipping on moss.
The mushrooms were out like they knew it was their time. Bright reds, ghostly whites, slick oranges, clusters and frills and weird little glowing ones tucked into the moss. Some looked poisonous. Some looked like they were made out of coral. All of them looked like they had something to say. We stopped repeatedly. We crouched down to take a picture. Sometimes, we pointed out one that looked like it could bite back.
It wasn’t the hike we planned, but it’s the one we got. And even soaking wet, even completely off route, it was still a good one. We’ll call it a sweat-to-soak-to-smile kind of day. That’s how summer trail chaos works sometimes. You don’t always beat the heat, but you can at least out-walk it. For a little while, anyway.
