July 11, 2022
Coldwater, MI
I promised Gob a morning swim. And by that I mean that I didn’t let him take a morning swim before we left our campsite in exchange for letting him swim at our first stop of the day. This park has no trails listed, but the site mentions a mile of lakeshore and acres of undeveloped land to explore. Sounds like my puppys dream adventure. We find a gravel parking area off the side of the road with a rec pass sign. This is my only indication that we’re in the right place. We park and begin our exploration.
The undeveloped land is exactly that. Undeveloped. Overgrown. But in the best way. The grass and wildflowers tower over Gob and he leads the way down a deer trail that I hope is heading towards the lake. His tail blends in, resembling the grass blossoms waving in the breeze.
But all too soon, the ground goes from solid to marshy. The deer trail begins to wind all around. And then it becomes harder to follow. Looking at the overhead map, it looks like we would be trudging through another half-mile or more of unknown terrain before getting to the lake. And I make the unpopular decision to turn around. It is beautiful and fun to explore, but I think I’ve had enough. Were I wearing waders or tall boots to protect myself from the muck and ticks, I would probably have continued. Gob would have continued as is, and grumbles as we turn away from the promised lake. I try to console him with promises of a lake at our next stop. He’s grown leary of my promises.
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