Wyalusing State Park
10 July 2004
Hiking can be miserable. It never seems so after the fact, of course.
Afterwards, you only remember the wind that blows through the pines, or
the warm sun on your face from atop a rocky overlook. But this hike, on
this day, was miserable. It was not the misery that bubbles over with happiness
and enthusiasm, as when a thunderstorm strikes, or a cold rain takes over
a summer day. It was entirely unlike shivering in the morning while waiting for the coffee to finish. It was not the sort of misery that makes hiking and camping
fun.
No, it was the misery that dampens enjoyment and ruins your fun. It was a
hot, hazy, humid day, and the mosquitos were ubiquitous. The haze made it
impossible to take good photographs, and the bugs and sweat made it
difficult to appreciate closed-in, second-growth forest trails. And since the
overlook, at the confluence of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi, was
both the highlight and the beginning of the trail, I didn't much feel like
going on. I headed down the trail for a couple miles, decided I'd rather
be drinking a beer and watching the Cubs play the Cardinals, and headed
back to the car.
I shouldn't be too negative about the park. After all, my hiking guide
recommended it. And I suppose it could be very nice in the autumn, when the
trees are colored and the bugs dead. Some trivia: "Wyalusing" is a Delaware
word meaning "home of the warrior", and the area served as a neutral
meeting grounds between various Indian tribes. A marker at the bluff overlook
marks the spot where Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet first discovered
the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi, on 17 June 1673.
Last updated 10 July 2004. Send comments to ben@gwaihir.org, or return to my hiking page.