Jeanne Reale, Jan Springer, Maria Horvath and Michael Reale; Photo by Sandra Sowell
Sandra Sowell
What a nice hike from Kent to Bog Springs,
Down in the Santa Ritas where the babbling brook sings
And flows through the green ferns and yellow columbines,
Monkey flowers and tall trees and even grape vines.
The hike guide this day was Michael Reale,
Ready as always to lead groups, by golly.
From trailhead to Kent Springs, we gained fourteen hundred feet.
From desert heat to cool shade under Ponderosas—how sweet!
A snack here, and then trekking on to Bog Spring,
Beside the trickling water with butterflies on the wing.
The sycamores’ bark was spectacularly white.
The alligator juniper’s girth an awesome sight.
By now we had worked up a huge appetite,
So a stop at the Springs was quite a delight.
Then, leaving the canopy of forest overhead,
We worked our way back down to the parking lot trailhead.