It was an interesting hike today. We go to this marsh serveral times a year and in every season. He's old enough now to understand why navigation becomes more important as the seasons change. I recall him asking last time we were there why anyone would need a map or compass there. That was 2 months ago, in the spring. The vegetation was nowhere near as full as it is now. Nothing was higher than about belt level, the trees, shrubs and flowers were not yet in bloom, and the reeds and cattails were still dry and brown. The trail we were on looks like a gravel road in all the other seasons, with nothing but a few tiny greens along the ground.

Today, we couldn't see very many landmarks at all, only a few tall trees off in the distance. Even the creek and swamps were out of sight. We couldn't see Lake Ontario from the parking lot, or at any point until we got to the beach.


(There's a swamp on our left and a large creek on our right, that we can follow very easily during the other seasons. We couldn't even get to their banks today without a trek through the brush.)

We oriented ourselves at the trail head, and followed the main trail. There are now several intersecting paths worn through the scrub by hikers, dog-walkers and fishermen, and we might have missed the trail back if we weren't paying attention.