Lost in the 344 Acre Woods

No, this is not a story about Winnie the Pooh. He lived in the 100 acre woods. This is a story of a silly woman who took two young boys hiking in the middle of the day to a small park she's been to at least 10 times, and managed to get them all lost.

Mary Moore Seacrest Park is one of the least well known parks in our area of town. To access it, you actually turn off a major road, Slaughter, onto a hardly noticeable street between apartment complexes. Honestly, I had driven right by it HUNDREDS of times and never noticed the entrance until a friend told me about it.

Once you make the turn, you drive down this small road two or three miles to a parking lot. At the center of the park, there is a volley ball setup, bathrooms, playground, picnic areas, etc. On the weekends, they hold Frisbee games, football, and jousting on the open grass. It's fun to watch.

But what really draws people to the park is the wild area. There is a paved path that makes a circle; it's a little over 5 miles long. But criss-crossing the paved path are hundreds of small paths; some made by humans, others by animals. The woods are filled with trees so thick you can't see anyone more than 10-15 feet in front of you on the trails. There are gorges, dry river beds, a river, hills, rocks, and wild life. When you make it to the middle of the woods you can't even hear traffic or any sounds of civilization.

Most of my hikes through the park in the past have been with Steve, who has an amazing sense of direction. When we go as a family, we just let Will pick which ever way he wants to and when we're ready to head home Steve leads us out. No biggie.

This morning was beautiful. Steve was working and I didn't want to stay home, so Will and I picked up his friend and headed to the park for a walk. Our original plans were to walk for about half an hour then stop by the play area for the boys. I locked up the car and pocketed my keys. We didn't even take drinks, because we weren't going to be there that long.

As soon as we came to an intersection, Will choose which direction to go. Then Gabe. Then me. About thirty minutes into our walk I realized nothing looked familiar and we hadn't passed anyone in a while. Not to mention, I was pretty sure the last "path" we took was a deer trail.

About then we came upon the river again. In all our trips in the past, we stayed near the river, found a place to cross it and were home free. So we followed the river, but nothing looked familiar. I finally found a place to cross, but it wasn't a place we've ever used before. I was getting desperate though. The boys were thirsty and tired. Tripping over their own feet. Will wanted me to carry him. We'd been walking for at least an hour at this point.

I'd like to mention that until I got lost in the park, I had no idea how big it was. I though the park was about the size of Lew and Donas old place, around 40 acres. I kept expecting to walk up on someone or an area that looked familiar.

Right after crossing the river, we come upon a back of a line of houses. I thought they were the apartment complexes near the turn off. And even though that meant we were two miles from the car, as least we'd know where we were and where we are going. There was a 6 foot tall fence surrounding each building and butting into the last one. First, we tried to walk until the fence ended. Planning on going around them. But the last fence contained viscous dogs and both boys are almost sobbing at this point, so we turned back.

Then I tried the gates we passed back by, they were all locked. About the 10th gate we came to opened. We walked to the back door and knocked, no answer. The side gate allowing us out to the front was unlocked as well. When we stepped into the front I realized we were NOT at the apartment buildings. This was a subdivision I'd never seen before. We went to the front door and knocked. A very nice woman answered and I explained we'd come through the back gate and that we were lost.

I asked her where the park was, and she asked which park. She kindly offered to drive us back to our vehicle. We had basically walked the longest distance in the park and come out the other end, on FM 1626. To get us to our car, she had to drive up FM 1626, cross over on First Street -- go 4 miles, then turn up Slaughter, another mile, then the two miles down to the parking lot. The only other way to get there, go back through the woods.

We spent less than two hours lost in the woods. The boys never got upset. We weren't attacked or scared. Just tired and thirsty. But it was so mentally and physically exhausting I wasn't good for anything else all day.

I took the boys to eat, then Will and I came home. Where I spent the rest of the day curled up in bed with my heating pad.

Forty three, and this is the first time in my life I've been lost. It's not fun.