A winter walk clears the mind (03/11/2009)

Sometimes - with the endless drumbeat of troubling news - what I need more than anything else is a walk in the woods.

There's something about letting the green of a forest close in around you in summertime or watching the branches of trees move against the winter sky or listening to birdsongs in the spring that restores perspective and removes the stock market, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the unemployment rate from my consciousness

Last year, perhaps sensing that 2008 was going to be stressful, I hiked out alone on a brutally cold New Year's Day into the Loblolly and found a real sense of peace and tranquility that I drew strength from for months.

There are a number of nature trails locally if you ever feel the urge to sample them. They're free, and they help burn off the calories from spending too much time on the couch over the winter. All they require are comfortable shoes, a pair you don't mind getting muddy.

The Loblolly Wetlands Nature Preserve on county road 250 West north of Ind. 18 has several trails. One, which heads west from the paved parking lot, is handicapped accessible and includes a boardwalk over a wetland. It's particularly nice in warmer weather when there's lots of activity in the wetland. Another heads east then splits into three paths. One leads to a pond, another circles a large wetland area, and a third makes a loop through the woods.

The Bibler Nature Preserve, east and a little north of Boundary City, is owned by ACRES, a Fort Wayne-based land trust. Its trails take you through some lush wooded land with some amazing mature beech trees.

The trails aren't rugged, but they're not paved either. They're marked by ribbons placed about eye-level on small trees. As long as you can see a ribbon, you know you're not lost.

Like the woodland trail at the Loblolly, the Bibler trails tend to loop, so you hike into the woods then come back near to where you parked your car.

Another looping trail can be found in the bird sanctuary on the Jay-Adams County line road about three-quarters of a mile east of U.S. 27. Like the Loblolly, the bird sanctuary is a state-owned preserve and is maintained by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Boy Scout projects have also made a difference at the bird sanctuary.

The bird sanctuary was originally pretty small, but support from The Portland Foundation and the late Ann Goodrich helped it more than double in size. And additional adjoining land to the west has been acquired by the state.

Over the years, I figured Connie and I had walked all the trails available locally. But a few weeks ago, my friend Ken Brunswick of DNR alerted me to one we'd overlooked.

It's the Bell Croft Nature Preserve, a DNR site located on county road 300 South northeast of Como.

On a recent, chilly Sunday afternoon, we decided to check it out. There's a stoned spot with room to park a single vehicle, and a path along a brambled fencerow takes you back to a 40-acre woods.

The trail is a little spongy at times, and I suspect it's pretty muddy after last weekend's rain.

But the hike is worth the effort.

The woods is full of old growth oak, ash, and hickory, and there's a stand of beech trees that's as pretty as any I've seen in Jay County, where beeches are relatively rare.

Our walk took about 40 minutes, looping through the woods and following the ribbons on trees. We were cold by the time we got back to the car, but the economy and the wars never crossed our minds.[[In-content Ad]]