It didn’t take long for Carmel High School math teacher Linda Jones to complete the Trek Our Trails Challenge.
Jones, a Carmel resident, and her boyfriend, Ken Milner, from Indianapolis, completed all the Central Indiana Land Trust trails in the first two weeks of April.
“We enjoyed hiking all of the trails, checking out the birds, trees and spring wildflowers along the way,” Jones said. “We were impressed by the properties and the conditions of the trails, and we really enjoyed seeing such diverse landscapes.”
Although an avid hiker, Jones said she had never previously visited the Central Indiana Land Trust properties included in the Challenge.
Jones kept track of their visits and made notes of what the couple experienced:
- April 1: Nonie Werbe Krauss Nature Preserve in Fishers. “Hiked 2 miles looping through wooded and prairie areas.”
- April 2: Burnett Woods Nature Preserve near Avon. “Hiked a 1.5-mile easy forested loop trail.”
- April 4: Fred & Dorothy Meyer Nature Preserve near Martinsville. “Hiked a 0.6-mile loop trail down into a ravine and back up.”
- April 9: Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve near Shelbyville. “Hiked a 1.2-mile forested loop trail.”
- April 16: Laura Hare Preserve at Blossom Hollow near Trafalgar. “Hiked a 2-mile moderate difficulty lollipop trail.”
Jones, who has been a CHS math teacher for 16 years, used a $12,000 Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship in 2019 to hike the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
The Trek Our Trails Challenge continues until Nov. 26.
To enter, participants should take a photo of themselves and any companions at the nature preserve sign or trailhead, either before or after the hike. Email photos to smiller@conservingindiana.org or post them to the Central Indiana Land Trust Facebook or Instagram using hashtags #cilti #trekourtrails2021.
Those who complete the challenge receive a Central Indiana Land Trust pin and are entered into a drawing for other prizes. For more, visit conservingindiana.org.