Blogger Harriet Gordon sent me a link to

The 20 Hiking Trails Every American Hiker Must Try

and I’m happily passing it on to you.

Too bad none of these are near Oklahoma! The only one I’ve been on in is the first one listed and the most famous trail in America, the Appalachian Trail. My father and I were on a camping/hotel trip back east and passed by the trail. He and my mother had walked a bit along it a few years earlier, and he urged me to stop and take a peek at it as well. We only walked a miniscule fraction of this incredible 2,187 mile trail. But one of my favorite books is the hilarious A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and his attempt to trek the great Appalachian Trail.

I’m strictly a day hiker who loves a room with a warm shower, WiFi, and a comfy bed at the end of the day. So I’m not tempted by the long overnight trails. But we do have a few long trails in the Sooner State. The best of these long trails is probably the Ouachita National Recreation Trail which stretches 223 miles through the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Last winter at Osage Hills

I managed 300 miles of day hikes in 2010, but have logged no miles at all in the first 20 days of 2010. I had a sinus infection and then an allergic reaction to penicillin which, along with cold and snowy weather, has kept me indoors. But I’ll venture out again one of these days when I feel better. Last winter I was out in bitterly cold conditions to enjoy and photograph snow and ice in Osage Hills State Park and along the Pathfinder Parkway, but for now I’m more tempted to tend a fire in the fireplace at Meador Manor.

At the fireside

Happy trails, especially if you decide to take Harriet’s advice!