My PaPaw Petter, his name was Earl, used to take us grandkids to McNeely Lake to go fishing. My favorite thing about the trip was exploring the trails and especially the dam.

I have always wanted to hike all the way around the lake. PaPaw always said the back side is like a swamp and difficult to traverse. I’ve never been all the way around, until today.

This was the best time to go with the water down and brush at a minimum. The swampy area is still there. It reminds me of parts of Florida with the tall grass.

After getting over the small stream in the back of the lake I continued up the other side. There are no trails here, so I was at a walk. Picked back up at the entrance to the golf course and continued on around.

It was also the first time I came in at the horse trails. When I was little I would have not thought my round trip would basically start and end at the dam, which the horse trail leads into.