Tammy and I hopped in the car for Lebanon Hills this afternoon to get out in the woods and hike a bit. Tammy always finds it a touch annoying that I want to have a route planned out and know what trails we are taking. She would rather just start walking and see where the path takes us. Today, we did it her way and just started walking. Turn left here, right there.

About 3 miles in I wasn’t really sure which way we were going and I will admit that I tried to make extra long glances at the trail maps as we passed them. But I stayed true to the task and just followed wherever Tammy was leading us. The trails seemed familiar.

After a while we got on some trails that we both thought we had never been on. There was also long stretches with no intersecting trails which isn’t common in Lebanon Hills. After what seemed like a mile we saw a parking lot and another trail map, but it wasn’t our parking lot.

A highlighted trail winds through Lebanon Hills Regional Park, near Valleywood Golf Course.

Somehow with our random turns we had navigated ourselves to the completely opposite side of the park at a different parking lot. We were 4.5 miles in and I admit to considering for a moment getting a Lyft to take us to our car, but it was a nice day and off we went to return to the other side of the park.

A man and woman smile while standing by a lakeside with autumn foliage around them. A person walks down a dirt path surrounded by autumn foliage under a clear blue sky. A man and a woman are smiling in a forested area with autumn foliage in the background. A serene lake is surrounded by autumnal trees under a partly cloudy blue sky. A man and a woman are smiling for a selfie on a sunny day, standing on a wooden pathway surrounded by autumn trees. A grove of tall, leafless birch trees stands against a clear blue sky with scattered autumn foliage on the ground.