This hike

My son and I hiked the ski trails in Chester Park yesterday morning.

We geared up -- wool socks, hiking boots, sweater/jacket, gloves, hats. I grabbed my cellphone and camera, being sure to leave enough room in my fanny pack for any "treasures" we might find. Sam grabbed his "bow and arrows," a selection of tree branches he plays with in the yard, so he could "hunt" some bear and deer.

We set off for Chester Park. I showed him my "secret" way into the park, via the trail behind the Aftenro and Northwoods Children's homes. We had fun tramping through the crunchy leaves and treading silently across fallen pine needles.

We stopped here and there to try out branches for walking sticks, snapping a few in the process. We checked out some major woodpecker damage to a tree. We paused on a bridge to throw rocks into the creek.

Once down in the bowl, we stopped for a mid-morning snack then headed to the playground. The sky darkened and air became moist. We better head home, now, I told my son.

He needed to use the bathroom back at the ski chalet first. The rain started while we were inside. We ended up calling Daddy, who rescued us from the soaking we would have gotten had we continued on home.