Mercer Slough Hike

First of all, I have to tell you that I learned somethiing new after this hike. I wouldn't really consider Mercer Slough a "hike" but it was a nice stroll through the park anyway. Slough can actually be pronounced three ways: sloo is the pronunciation for northern US and Canadian marsh land, slou (sounds like cow) is the pronunciation for muddy swamp area or a condition of degredation, and sluf is the pronunciation for something that is shed or cast off such as dead tissue. I know you were just dying for a grammar lesson right. Doubt it. Oh well, this is my blog and I'll talk about grammar if I want. We got to the trail head and decided to just wonder aimlessly through the area just to eat up the hour or so that we each had available for this little adventure. One way or another we actually ended up doing a big cirlce and it worked out perfectly. Much of the slough is a meandering boardwalk path through trees and shrubs and tall grasses. There were a few areas where we got to step off of the boardwalk and onto the soft spongy ground. Each and every path we took was well maintained and clearly marked with signs pointing to all the different twists and turns complete with distance for each route. I found that pleasantly helpful so we could decide before hand if we had time to take a right or if we should take the left instead being that it was 1/2 the distance. We only saw two other people the entire time we were out and about. One was jogging the trails and scared the shit out of us as he passed by silently and very unexpectedly. The other was a woman walking her dog. It is by no means a challenging endeavor even for the most novice of beginners. I wouldn't call the scenery beautiful either. There is no viewpoint and we found no beautiful blooming gardens nor a majestic canopy of trees. However, there are a number of charming meandering paths and footbridges over small creeks. There is also a decent sized water way that you can float or just cross over using the bridge. It was not challenging, it was not interesting, it was not pretty. Why bother with this place...unless wondering around a swamp is what you consider a good time.



Thank god for the company I had or it would have been a complete waste of time...for what I was looking for. Oh well, can't win them all I guess. Next!