A Sunday morning hike with a couple of friends turned out to be just what I needed. The woods at Chicot State Park provided just enough wildlife to be interesting but not creepy. Armadillos crossed our path more than once, and Double-Crested Cormorants rattled out their croaky guttural serenades in the Cypress trees dotting the lake.
We hiked 6.5 miles out and back. The entire trail is 18 miles around the lake. We will save that for a cooler day when we have sufficiently got our hiking legs under us. We are still experiencing record-breaking temperatures this late in October.