The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Hike helps burn off holiday calories
Post-Thanksgiving event hosted by Metroparks
On a sunny fall day, Lorain County Metroparks got individuals to tie on their hiking shoes, wrap themselves in scarves and burn some Thanksgiving calories Nov. 26 for the Metroparks’ post-Thanksgiving hike at French Creek Reservation, 4540 French Creek Road in Sheffield Lake.
Members of the Metroparks and participants of the hike were welcome to hike together throughout the park on the Big Woods Trail for the holiday activity.
Rachel Mazzola, a Naturals 2, which is a member of the park staff who does educational programs such as summer camps and hikes with children and adults, works with The French Creek Nature & Arts Center, 4530 Colorado Ave. in Sheffield.
Mazzola lead the hike and said the Metroparks does many hikes throughout the year, but this was her first post-Thanksgiving one. She said the parks wanted to have this hike so they could get people out and moving after all the food that they may have eaten on the holiday.
“I like recreation, that’s my degree,” she said. “I like to make people get out and move this time of year.”
The Big Woods Trail is two miles in French Creek Reservation, but the hike was designated for a mile and a half distance, lasting around an hour and a half walk.
Mazzola said she and the parks like to get people out hiking throughout the entire year and not just during the warmer season.
“A lot of times, people underestimate the power
of nature in the cold,” she said. “Getting out and doing it in during this kind of day with this type of weather, you never know what you’re going to see.”
During the slightly chilly hike, Mazolla not only lead the hike throughout the park, but shared many facts about the French Creek Reserve’s history and the nature that surrounds it with participants.
Martha Love, an Avon Lake citizen and participant of the post-Thanksgiving hike, said she enjoys hiking and tries to do it every couple of weeks. She added that she loves taking photography of the
nature during her hikes, as well.
After finding out about the holiday hike in the Metroparks arrowhead program guide, she thought the hike would be a great idea to enjoy nature while working off Thanksgiving calories.
With more people having the weekends off, more of the hikes by the Metroparks tend to happen during that time, said Mazzola. If the Metroparks could get larger groups for a hike like the Post-Thanksgiving one in the future, she said she would to keep it going and have more of holiday themed ones, during this time.