The early morning sun was just rising over the foggy mountain at Devil’s Den State Park as I grabbed my hiking backpack and put the leash on my best friend and dog, Ollie. Ollie is a smaller Australian Shepherd who loves nature, especially hiking the trails and running through the Autumn leaves. Ollie has a fluffy coat of golden brown and cream fur. My favorite feature about Ollie is his beautiful eyes. He has one eye that is emerald green and another that is ocean blue. Ollie and I were about to take off on a 10-mile journey hiking through the winding trails of Devil’s Den State Park. This was our very first attempt at a hike this long. We’ve completed the puny 5-mile hike so many times that it’s become effortless. I’ve anticipated this day for weeks now, Ollie and I have been training every day to be able to complete this challenge.
     The beginning of the trail was announced with a large sign that displayed the name of the trail, a map showing the windy curves and bumps, the native vegetation, and the local animals one might see during their hike. I checked my backpack and made sure Ollie’s leash was secure before we set off eagerly on our first-ever 10-mile hiking adventure. The birds were singing together like an acapella choir performance. The deep red and orange leaves flutter as light as a feather from the many Maple-Leaf Oak’s, to the ground. Ollie turned his nose up to the sky and squinted at the bright, shining sun. The forest felt lively and calm as Ollie and I began the trek of the first mile.
     The trail was surrounded by a mix of tall trees, bluffs, and creeks. The path of the trail wound through different landscapes like a snake slithering across a field, back and forth. As Ollie and I approached an eerie cave, Ollie was cautiously curious as was I. The cave was very dark with a cool, damp draft that wrapped us up like a sopping wet towel. There was an ominous sign that read “Do Not Enter”. That sign was useless, you’d have to be incredibly stupid to enter a black hole such as that. Ollie shook his head as though he was shaking off the unpleasant feeling that the cave was giving off and we decided to continue on our journey ahead. As the trail wound up the mountainside, the natural stone steps that lead for the past 3 miles became harder to navigate the further we got. They were not man-made steps by any means. Large rocks and Eastern Red Cedar trunks were lying scattered along the path. Ollie was bouncing like a spring up and down the steps while I felt lost in a giant’s land. Maybe this adventure was more intimidating than I thought it would be.
     Once Ollie and I made it to the top of the mountain, the view opened up to a wide overlook that took my breath away. We could see for hundreds of miles, but that was just the beginning. There was a mix of all kinds of hardwood trees with leaves of red, orange, yellow, and green without the blue, indigo, and violet. There were even bare American Sycamore trees without leaves. Overhead against the backdrop of the blue sky, ducks were landing on a small creek below. I felt like I could spend hours at this overlook, filling my soul with the sounds of nature but I knew that we still had halfway left to go to finish this hike. I gave Ollie a refreshing sip of water as I also took one for myself while we forged on ahead down the path of our hike. As Ollie and I continued, the trail became muddy and uneven making it even more challenging to navigate. I knew there must be a water source close by that was causing such a mess and I was excited to see what we might find. In hopes of finding a majestic waterfall, we continued carefully, hiking through the muddy sludge on the trail.
     As we approached mile seven of the hike, Ollie sporadically darted left, veering off of our trail. I followed him in curiosity as his spectacular senses led us straight to a hidden cascaded waterfall that pooled at the bottom in a crystal-clear puddle. The sun reflected off the puddle like a kaleidoscope of different colors. It was the perfect scene for a postcard. As I looked up, I noticed jagged bluffs covered with green moss hanging off like a curtain to a window. It looked like Ollie and I had entered another world, an exotic dimension. It was exhilarating to feel like you were in an international jungle in the mountains of Northwest Arkansas. The sound of the water trickling down from the waterfall could have easily put us both to sleep as we rested underneath the warm sunshine with water lightly splashing upon us from the rocks. Ollie rested his head on my leg and looked at me with his biggest puppy dog eyes, raising his eyebrows as if he were asking permission to take a quick nap. As tempting as it felt, I knew we needed to continue making our way through the woods nearing the last few miles of our hike.
     As the day slowly began to fade, the sun was showering us with warm rays as we followed along the ragged trail. I was feeling so tired and could tell that Ollie was beginning to slow down too. This hike had been a great challenge for us but also felt like an unachievable goal. I decided to have some trail mix and give Ollie some sliced ham that I brought along with me in hopes of giving him some extra energy to finish out the last few miles. After finishing our snack, we mustered up enough energy to finish our hiking adventure.
     As Ollie rounded one of the last bends of the trail, we could almost see the entire exit. This is the moment we have been looking forward to since beginning this hike. All of our hard work and training would soon pay off. I amped myself up and said softly to Ollie, “We can make it. We’ve already finished 95% of this hike. Let’s go!” We started jogging lightly to the finish line until we noticed a jumble of little, delicate, colorful White-Eyed Vireo birds swooping in and out of the bluffs that hung over the trail. Ollie looked up to the birds with curiosity as he turned his head from side to side trying to decipher their final destination. We stopped for a moment to observe these small yellow creatures before we got back onto our route. I watched as the birds flew in very intricate paths into very tiny holes on the side of the bluffs. It was mesmerizing watching the way they would swoop and plummet from the blue sky to enter the small opening of their nests. It was almost as if the bird just demonstrated to me the hike we just took, from a bird’s eye view. Just as they were reaching their final destination, Ollie and I had ours to meet. Ollie was so enamored with these birds. He followed them closely with his snout facing wherever the bird led.
     There’s a saying about dogs with two different colored eyes, that they can see both Heaven and Earth. I wondered if any visitors were dancing through Ollie’s mind as the birds swooped past. As I escaped my daydream, I looked back over at Ollie. He looked so peaceful, still staring up at the birds, that I didn’t want to interrupt him but I knew that if we did not continue, we wouldn’t finish and my mom would start to worry about us as the sun was beginning to set. I gently redirected Ollie back onto our path where we continued on and finally pranced with pride toward the exit of our 10-mile adventure.
     Ollie and I finally made it to the last set of natural stairs leading to the trail’s exit. As Ollie and I exhaustedly climbed the stairs, I looked at Ollie and felt a sense of pride for having accomplished such a long hike with my very best friend. I also felt a sense of calm knowing that the seemingly impossible adventure became our amazing, accomplishing, reality. We made it to my car just as the sun was vanishing behind the mountain, producing a slight chill in the air.
     I pulled out of the parking lot and started the hour-long drive back home. Ollie turned a couple of circles and got folded into a pretzel in the front seat. I wanted to revel in the tranquility I felt so I kept the music turned off with the windows rolled down. As I began the drive home, I reflected on our previous hikes and all of the different emotions we’ve experienced together along the way. This hike was our best one, by far. I could not wait to tell my mom all about it. From tiresome to delightful, my emotions had been through a rollercoaster. Dusk had settled in and I pulled into the driveway of my home. I still can’t believe we did it. My mom stood outside with the porch light lit as I jumped out of the car with excitement to greet her. I couldn’t wait to tell her everything Ollie and I had just accomplished together. I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking all about our afternoon until the train of exhaustion finally hit me and I fell right to sleep.