Summer in the south is pretty miserable. Soup-like air thickened by extreme humidity makes most outdoor activities a pretty terrible experience. That said, today is not suppose to be as humid as normal and given the near full-moon and clear skies predicted for this evening, it seemed like a great night to explore the Roswell Riverwalk with one of the local hiking groups.
Meeting at Don White Memorial Park around 8 PM we do a quick round of introductions before heading off down the paved walkway along the Chattahoochee at a brisk pace. Along the way, we chat about other hikes, the phases of the moon, and whatever else comes up in pleasant conversation. One of the hikers is from near my near my hometown near St. Louis and even when to the same University as I did. We talk of the glories of baseball and hockey quite a lot.
As we are only a couple of days past the summer solstice, we have lots of daylight to work with, though the moon (at about 98% full) makes an early appearance in the sky to the south of us. As we leave the paved trails for the boardwalk and head into some swampy areas, we see a few deer standing in the shallow water and grazing on their favorite flora. It's very picturesque.
When we reach the far end of the hike and make our turn, it's still is not quite dark. In fact, I only pull out my headlamp a couple of times the entire time and then, just to inspect something or other along the way. On the way back, myself and another hiker seem to be on the same page with regard to pace and we quickly leave most of the group behind with our very nearly 4 mph speeds.
Arriving back at the parking lot we started at, the others soon catch up. The weather has been terrific this evening. Not too hot and not too cold - just right. I check my tracking app and see that we walked right at 7.6 miles. Not a bad way to spend the evening. The calm waters of the Chattahoochee reflecting the moonlight made for a wonderfully enjoyable fitness walk. I hop in the jeep and head for home.
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