Nat’s still married after the 30th Anniversary hike.

It wasn’t a disaster. Honest! No one got injured either. Yay!

But we definitely didn’t have “type 1 fun” that is fun in the moment. Welcome to “type 2 fun”, aka fun when it’s done.

To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary Michel and I decided to go on a hike someplace new. I was charged with choosing the route. I swear I set the filters to:

• Route type = loop
• Difficulty = easy
• Distance = 4-6 km

I was looking for something not to far away but also someplace new. We have a bunch of trails near London. I played around with the map. Suddenly a loop at the Dalewood Reservoir appeared. It was a 20 minute drive. Perfect!

I threw a few snacks, my water bottle and hiking poles in the car. Michel smiled. I knew he was thinking “classic Nat over preparing.” (I later confirmed he thought that and, to his credit, he admitted it!)

The first hiccup was that the entrance to the conservation area was locked. Huh. I had not anticipated that. Michel to the rescue! He had noticed we had passed a sign marking a trailhead entrance just up the road.

A short drive and we were at a parking lot with trail map, bathrooms and a garbage can. Pro tip, don’t use those toilets. Pee outside. They were super gross.

The weather on the holiday Monday morning was cool and overcast but surprisingly humid. After skittering down to the main trail loop we were both quite sweaty.

We crossed an iron bridge and kept an eye out for our right hand turn to go around the reservoir. Otherwise we would walk along a subdivision and end up on pavement after a kilometer or so. We did not want to do that.

Imagine our surprise when we were definitely walking along a fence line as people roasted turkeys. The mosquitoes were fierce and the path was kind of a gravel trench with a narrow gap where it had been washed out.

“We missed our turn.” I frowned. There were no trail markers. But the trail was well worn. As we turned around Michel offered that we could go back to the car. A 3 km walk met our minimum daily walk distance.

“No!” I exclaimed. “I picked this route to see beautiful fall colours, water and listen to birds!”

So we back tracked nearly to the bridge and saw a no snowmobile sign high up on a tree.

“Dang. I saw this on the way out but it didn’t look like a main trail.”

Michel pushed aside several shrubs and 10 feet off the trail was a single blue arrow. We laughed. It was absolutely not visible.

Confident we were now on the trail Michel broke out his Merlin app as I shed my outer plaid jacket layer.

It had rained a lot on Sunday and the trail was clay with freshly falling leaves. There was a lot of little up and downs and it was slippery. Michel slid down hills, Lucy’s leash in one hand and his phone on “listen” in the other.

“That’s a Carolina Wren!” He was like Jack Be Nimble. I was picking my path carefully. Stick, stick, step, step. I soon shed my mid layer and was just in a tank top.

We saw a handful of people going the opposite direction. It was beautiful going from stands of oaks to cedars then maples. The birds were singing, mosquitoes biting and the views were beautiful.

Michel regularly checked in with me. He shared that his legs were hurting. I admitted the trail was more challenging than I had expected. He laughed. We were 90 minutes in.

We kept walking, sweating and minding our footing. Each boardwalk or bridge was numbered, counting down to the locked conservation gate that was close to the car.

We discovered other spots to park and join the trail. At our 6 km point we joined the road to walk on a beautiful bridge above the damn. We knew we were close now.

We rejoined the trail, passing through the canoe launch for the paddling route. Michel offered we could walk back out to the road and find the car. I doubled down on completing the loop. It was the same distance either way. His watch and phone were dead and he was feeling as done with the adventure as I was.

We started seeing the same folks we had met at the beginning. One couple was worried they would not find their car. After a short chat we realized they had parked near the bridge. We reassured them they were almost done and they could not miss the bridge.

The last half hour we were both tired and kind of done with slipping and sliding.

We got back to the car and devoured all the snacks.

A screenshot of our route from Strava shows it was 8 km and “a three hour tour”.

On the drive back we were both tired. Back at the house I exclaimed “that did not feel like AN EASY 5 km”.

I re-read the trail description. It was best to be avoided after heavy rainfall. No shit. It was also scored as a “ moderate” difficulty. Uh-huh. And it was 6 km only if you avoided the north-east spur, which we did not!

The house was pretty quiet all afternoon as I knitted and Michel did schoolwork.

At dinner we had both regained our sense of humour. I shared a video of a man saying his parents didn’t raise a quitter, they raised a complainer. It was spot on. I had been determined to finish the loop but, boy, there were a few moments where I complained.

I wonder if I do truly enjoy hiking? I’m not sure. I do love the views. We were treated to regular Bald Eagle calls and were rewarded at the very end to see the giant bird close up. We could hear the wings flapping when it took off.

Michel shared he was glad he hadn’t picked that route. I offered I would not have complained then, I would have just pushed it down.

“Your silent fuming is much worse than your complaining!”

That’s what 30 years of marriage gives you, perspective and understanding.

Happy Anniversary?