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| Prairie smoke in May |
As I hike with friends and people I meet on the trail, our conversations sometimes turn to what kind of hiking we like doing - or think we
should be doing.
It’s easy to get into a bit of a rut with our hiking choices. Some people are comfortable doing hikes in well-loved, nearby places and watching the subtle seasonal changes on familiar paths from day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month. I think of those as “staying” hikes.
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| Widow skimmer dragonfly in June |
Some like to mix it up by going to lots of different places and different types of hikes (bluffs, wetlands, woods, prairies, rocks). Discovering a new trail, rock formation, or type of flower holds an adventurous allure. These are “going” hikes.
Often, people express some regret that they aren’t doing more of whichever kind of hike they seldom do.
My own tendency is mostly “going” hikes. I like to seek out “new life and new civilizations” hikes in all kinds of places and on all types of terrain all over the Driftless. What will I see or experience next?
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| Pasque flower in March |
But since early this spring, I have been enjoying a once-a-week stroll at just one place. It's definitely a "staying" hike. And because of this, I am learning the incredible lure of returning often to well-trodden paths.
I started doing a weekly "phenology" hike at Holland Sand Prairie State Natural Area in Holmen. I wanted to learn more in my Master Naturalist journey so I began to document the timing of blooming forbs and their life cycle.
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| Brown-belted bumblebee in July |
I also noted the birds present and calling. Heading south down the main trail to the fence and back with an occasional full loop of the property has helped me understand more of the diverse plant and bird life. And, as a bonus, since this is a slow observational hike (less than a mile over an hour and a half), I have the time to more closely observe insects and pollinators.
So, what got me staying and doing this over the past five months? As I began this project in March, I was fascinated by a large section of the prairie blackened by a recent prescribed burn. On my way to look for Pasque flowers in the unburned area, I wondered how fast the previous year’s forbs and grasses would come back. I decided to document the process for myself by recording weekly what I was seeing and taking pictures of the growth from one particular spot.
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| March 25, 2025 |
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| April 18, 2025 |
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| May 23, 2025 |
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| June 28, 2025 |
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| July 20, 2025 |
It has given me a better sense of how a prairie is renewed after a prescribed burn. It's particularly fascinating to compare the newly burned area to the unburned section on the south half of my walk.
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| Healthy growth in the burned area in July |
To my eye, the new growth has been explosive and the flowers robust without the layer of thatch that plants must get through in the unburned section. Best of all, these hikes are yielding a familiarity with the area as well as a solid base of data to help me compare and learn blooming succession times from year to year.
I’m still an adventure-hiker at heart with new trails calling out to me. But I am also now someone who looks forward with intense pleasure to the subtle changes that I see on the prairie each week. Taking this time to learn the prairie plant, insect and wildlife has been intensely satisfying. I love these slower, mindful walks that let me understand more deeply the rhythms of nature.
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| Birdfoot violet in April |
And it helped me understand why both the "going" and the "staying" hikes are each important in our time in nature. It is a lesson well learned.
Images - Marge Loch-Wouters
Additional posts describing Holland Sand Prairie
I love this post! I’m definitely more of a “stayer”, but it is fun to explore new once in a while.
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