Spoiler alert: the swamp trail ends in the middle of the swamp

If you know me, you know that nothing I do ever goes the way it should. There is usually some kind of catastrophe or disaster or something crazy that happens. Saturday was no exception. The only casualties were two pairs of shoes this time. I guess you could say that I have an unintentional way of keeping life interesting!

I love the outdoors. I love hiking. I love Cypress trees. I found this place called Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge and it was only a little over two hours away. The sun was out and it waan’t terribly cold, so I asked my boyfriend if he would want to go and he agreed. The address that was listed on Google took us to the middle of nowhere. We finally found the headquarters and it wasn’t open but they had a map and some brochures. I found the name of a river access and we headed there. It was almost 4:00 p.m. by this point and we only had about an hour and twenty minutes of daylight left. We got there and I saw a sign that said swamp trail. Of course, this sounds like a great idea! I thought it was a quick loop trail and we would be in and out in no time. Only it wasn’t. But there was nothing that told us that. We kept walking and walking and it’s almost dark and then all of a sudden the trail ends and we are basically in the swamp. It’s super muddy and nothing but sticks everywhere. Oops. I thought my boyfriend was going to kill me at this point. We had already walked over two miles and our shoes were ruined. And it was dark. And getting colder. And the trail had a few huge trees that had fallen that you had to climb over, which means we got to do that twice.

I like to be prepared for anything and I had two flashlights in my camera bag. One didn’t work so well, but we only needed one to be able to see where we were going. It started snowing as we were making our way back to the car and we heard some really cool owls. We made it out alive. It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go back. The cypress trees were gorgeous. The swamp was pretty cool too. I wish they would have posted something letting you know the trail doesn’t loop back around and you will end up in the swamp if you don’t turn around after a few miles.

I spent a lot of time outdoors the last three days. Sunshine and fresh air are what I thrive on. Nature is my soul’s happy place. I love being outdoors with my camera. My boyfriend wants to go camping and spend more time outdoors when we can. I can’t wait to see what adventure we go on next. I am sure that it will bring plenty of laughs and photos!

If you read this, thank you so much! It means a lot to me. I love getting to share my stories and photos with you.