The sound of something slippery sliding through the September grass

So the other day Boy Wonder and I visited a trail that we haven't touched all summer long.

It used to be a favorite trail. It's close to the hustle and bustle section of Glacier National Park but hardly anyone hikes there. Most folks drive by it because this trail is in the woods and most folks don't go to Glacier to be in the woods, they go to be in the mountains.

We took a liking to it initially because it was short and it was flat, which makes it good for short little kid legs. One summer I bet we hiked it 30 times. It makes a loop through the trees, but still is interesting because there's water at the halfway point and I like trails with water.

Trails near water tend to have more biodiversity and this trail is no exception. I've seen moose and deer and elk and bears along it and it's just over a mile long, round trip. There's also a host of different birds, including more warblers than I can count, several different kinds of ducks, grouse, an occasional beaver, muskrats, geese and even swans at certain times of the year.

Like I said, we used to hike it because it was short and the kid couldn't go very far. But now he's good for five miles at least so we've been hitting longer trails most of the summer.

They say there's a danger in teaching a young boy to hike and climb because soon they will go faster and farther than you will and this is already proving true. Boy Wonder is on the upswing of his hiking career while my knees are beginning to hurt on a consistent basis.

There's nothing actually wrong with the knees, my doctor told me. He suggested aspirin or ibuprofen and the stuff works, though I prefer the former. I take the coated kind that's easy on your stomach. It works better if you take it before you hike. It also works pretty well with two beers when you're all done.

Pick your pleasure.

But on this day the light was fading fast and we had to be somewhere within an hour or so, so we did the short hike.

Boy Wonder caught a frog and played in the creek and I looked for bear tracks, took some duck photos and did some bird watching.

On the way back we saw two snakes in the trail, which was something new. I think they were either water snakes or garter snakes, I can't be sure because I didn't get a good look at them.

A snake moving through the grass makes a distinct, unforgettable sound. It's the sound of a creature on the go that has no legs and once you hear it you never forget it.

It's a sound that every boy should hear at least once - many times if he's lucky and his Dad can keep up.

Chris Peterson is the editor and a columnist for the Hungry Horse News.