It's time for a hike

Grab the bug spray and put on some comfortable shoes.
It’s time to take a hike.
And if you want a few minutes away from politics, terrorism and everyday stress, there are few better places locally to get in touch with nature than Bibler Nature Preserve.
Established in 1992 by the late Louis A. “Sam” Bibler, the preserve is one of two in Jay County and one in Adams County managed by ACRES Land Trust.
Bibler, who had a successful career as a geologist, grew up on a Pike Township homestead known as Spring Brook Farm. When he established the nature preserve, he acquired part of that farm and a woods with second-growth hickory, oak, maple and beech trees.
The preserve is located on county road 400 East, north of Treaty Line Road and south of county road 500 South. There’s a small grassy parking area with room for three or four vehicles, and two trails lead into the woods from there.
Total length of the trails is 1.2 miles, but it’s not necessary to hike the whole thing to enjoy what Sam Bibler preserved.
The best part of the hike is the woods at the eastern end, adjacent to the parking area.
That’s the oldest growth section and includes a stretch of stream that feeds into the Little Salamonie River.
At one spot along that stream, there’s a bench built by ACRES volunteers where hikers can take a seat and enjoy the solitude.
There’s a place to register at the southern trailhead if you want to leave comments about your hike. Trails are marked by orange or yellow bands tied around trees, so it’s next to impossible to get lost.
The western part of the trail takes you to what had been farm fields that were planted with thousands of young trees by Bibler in 1992. It will also lead hikers to a large boulder on which Bibler had a reminiscence about his boyhood carved in 1994.
A typical hike is likely to flush at least one or two deer, but this time of year hikers will find an abundance of insects as well.
It’s advisable to wear long pants, and the leader in a hiking party should expect to encounter plenty of cobwebs along the trail.
The trail is at its peak in late September and early October when fall colors are most vivid. It’s also appealing in winter when many of the large beech trees are more visible.
ACRES Land Trust, based in Allen County, manages nearly 6,000 acres of property in more than 85 nature preserves in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.