Hiking Archives - GoatKeepers Press

Falling for Autumn

Picking out a picture book I found “Pete the Cat Falling for Autumn” and cringed a bit. Still, I checked it out as appropriate to the season.

My Opinion of Autumn

Autumn is a prelude to winter. Going out to the barn in the dark and cold is not my idea of fun. Dealing with cold animals is no fun for them or me.

Then there is putting on all those layers of clothes in the attempt to stay warm. When it really gets cold, my layers include long johns, jeans, flannel shirt, vest, hoodie and jacket. It takes almost as long putting everything on as it does to do chores!

In addition, autumn is the end of the summer garden, wildflower hikes and basking in the warmth. It brings killing frost and clearing out the dead plants from the garden.

Such thoughts make autumn one of my least favorite times of year.

Hiking one of the trails at Montauk State Park, we crossed this ravine. It was mid-afternoon with the sun lighting up the colors on the hill above us.

“Pete the Cat Falling for Autumn”

I do enjoy the Pete the Cat picture books. I opened this book. Guess what? Pete wasn’t thrilled with the end of summer, beginning of autumn either.

As I turned the pages to see Pete’s discoveries, I found many of them resonated with me. It wasn’t just the colorful leaves. There were many things to like about autumn.

It made me think of some of the things I do like about autumn. Pumpkin cookies top my list. This is one of the recipes in “The Pumpkin Project”.

There may not be lots of flowers, but nature hikes are still good. I’ve been out admiring the fall colors around home and at Montauk State Park.

Fall colors are really vivid this fall for some reason. The only real rain in months was when remnants of Hurricane Helene went by. Yet, even the oaks that normally turn a dusky red are glowing reds and oranges. This view was worth the walk up and around the hill above our house.

A New Opinion?

Autumn will still not be a favorite season. However, after thinking about the nice things in autumn, it isn’t so bad. The problem wasn’t with autumn. It was with winter cold and dark.

One thing about dairy goats is how they tie you to home. My free day begins at the end of morning chores and ends with the beginning of evening chores. That made my Montauk State Park trip short.

There were several reasons for going to the park. Somehow, they never added up enough to take a whole day. This time the need to get away from the unending “To Do’ list was enough.

The Montauk Mill is open during the summer, a time I’ve never been to Montauk State Park. Looking in the windows and reading the brochure, it look interesting.

The Grist Mill

Montauk was a small community that grew up near the big springs forming the headwaters of the Current River. The water allowed a grist mill for grinding corn and wheat to operate. Several mills were built and destroyed until the present one was built in 1896.

The mill is intact, but no longer operates. Over the summer, tours go through. This is fall, so the mill was closed during my Montauk State Park trip.

The blue of the water in Montauk spring is from dissolved limestone. Karst springs flow through limestone often dissolving large amounts of stone to form caves.

Montauk Springs

Fifty-three million gallons of water flow out of the springs every day. This flow goes out to form the Current River.

Because the water has a constant cold temperature, it’s used for a trout hatchery. The river is stocked with rainbow trout and is very popular with fishermen and women. Opening day, March 1^st, draws hundreds to thousands of fishermen to kick off the season.

Montauk State Park is one of three rainbow trout hatcheries in Missouri. The trout are stocked in places around the area as well as in the Current River. These are two of many I saw, most of dinner size.

Wild Plants

Wandering around near the Montauk springs, I came out on the river where these men were fishing. One caught a trout.

I’m not a fisherman, although my father tried hard to hook me into the sport. I am interested in wild plants. This is one of the big draws for me for a Montauk State Park trip.

Some years back I found a fire-on-the-mountain along a parking lot. I needed more pictures of it. This time the fire-on-the-mountain was elusive. However, I found a new plant totally new to me and a yellow coneflower along with some more familiar plants.

One other thing I found out. Monday is a good day to visit as the weekend crowd has gone home. That made it a lovely quiet escape from my unending list.