TheBanyanTree: Pike Island

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Let’s set the scene:  It’s Minnesota, we’re on the cusp of summer and fall,
a little bit of color is decorating the trees, and it’s a warm and sultry
day with a tornado watch for most of the state.  Because we know our nice
and summer-like days are numbered, Susan and I decide to take the boys and
Axel, the beagle, for a hike on Pike Island.

Pike Island is part of Fort Snelling State Park.  It’s an island in the
Mississippi River where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers come together.
It’s a walking island only, but I did ride my bike illegally there earlier
this summer.  The trail around the entire island is about three miles.  The
island is named for Zebulon Pike, an early Minnesota explorer.

We walked across the bridge to the island and began following the path.
Axel was in beagle heaven, checking out all the wonderful animal smells,
plus adding a few of his own.  My younger grandson chats constantly, so I
heard a lot of garbled and convoluted stories ending with, “Right, Grandma?”
I always agreed, but I was probably agreeing to something that might come
back to haunt me, but I certainly didn’t want him to repeat those stories
again.  Oh, heaven’s no!

We took a shortcut path on the island, because these boys are not hikers,
and got a little confused.  But, the older grandson, with his internal GPS
system, got us on the right path.  He has an amazing sense of direction,
even when he was a baby, so I always listen to him when he says, “Go that
way.”  And “that way” was the right way and we were back on the bridge
again.

We stopped at the nature store, so I could buy a 2007 Minnesota State Park
calendar.  I’m always on the lookout for interesting calendars.  Oh, by the
way, after a long discussion about snakes and how I haven’t seen a snake in
the wild for years and years, we actually saw a small garter snake on the
path.

There was a picnic area attached the nature center.  We sat there for a
while and quenched our thirst from our water bottles.  The area had a couple
of dog bowls full of water for thirsty dogs, like Axel.  I thought that was
pretty cool.

Our little hike was a great way to spend a warm September afternoon, which
might be one of the last summer-like ones until next year.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma.
~Eartha Kitt