McConnells Mill State Park Hiking Adventure

Saturday was a great day with a coworker of mine! We met through LinkedIn a little before we started our new jobs remotely since it was still during covid. We have chatted during and outside of work and still had never met in person even though we live pretty close to one another. Well we finally got to hang out together in person and her and I had a great time at McConnells Mill State Park!

Below you will see all that we saw along our hike. Mushrooms, a beautiful river, a dam, crisscrossed trees, moss, and flowers.

Like I mentioned in my last post I absolutely love great views as well as nature. The sounds of the river, the trees rustling, and seeing all the plants, it was super calming. I have been hiking once before in Ames, Iowa a few summers ago and it was also a great experience.

When hiking though, I have realized that I tend to focus on both trying to make sure I don’t fall and hurt myself as well as the scenery around me. It can be very difficult to really enjoy the view when I am trying to watch where I step (I am not the most athletic or physically fit person).

Going down the hills for me is much harder/worrisome versus going up them when hiking. It just takes a lot more concentration for me.

My legs were a bit sore after the hike but it was great knowing I also got a great workout (since I sit all day for work). One leg was a bit more sore then the other and I think its because when climbing down I use one leg more than the other for better balance.

Guess that means I need to exercise both sides of my body equally to gain better balance!

As the hike continued, I noticed I got more and more comfortable with it and I think that just goes to show that practice and strengthening my muscles will make me feel more confident in hiking.

I think I definitely would go hiking again and have been wanting to hit the west coast to do so for the views in some of the western national parks like Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, and many others. One day!