A Sleep Hike Through Mud Creek

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It's Mud Season here, not just at The James Cave Instagram Feed, but across all of the northeast.

And for this relaxing Sleep Hike, I thought it would be peaceful to take a restful walk through Mud Creek, in Hudson, New York. Mud Creek is a part of the Mud Creek Environmental Learning Center, located on the property of Columbia County Soil & Water Conservation District office.

They host a variety of hands-on, inquiry based, environmental education programs, and here, we take a Sleep Hike through its marshy landscape. Mud Creek is home to beavers, muskrats, rabbits, coyotes, lots of birds, potentially ticks, and even a bobcat.

But because it's a Sleep Hike, you don't have to worry about running into any of that wildlife. Just sit back, relax, and let me take you on this peaceful path to slumber.

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Episode Transcript

James Cave (00:05):
Oh, we are hearing those relaxing sounds.
These are the telltale signsthat you've just entered another
sleep hike.
Sleep hike, in case you haven'tslept through one with us yet,
is when I guide you on ameditative hike through the
picturesque Hudson Valley, whileyou drift off into a
restorative slumber.
All you have to do is sitthere, drift off to sleep.

(00:27):
That's right, I do the hikingwhile you do the sleeping.
And so far we've had 43 relaxedsleepers tell me just how
restful their hike was.
They slipped right through it.
It's wonderful.
Let me tell you, today we'vegot an extremely relaxing hike
for you.
We are at Mud Creek.
It is mud season after all, andMud Creek is located in the

(00:48):
Bucollock property of theColumbia County Soil and Water
Conservation District Office.
Turn left at the ColumbiaMedical Park, and it's right
across from the dialysis center,so you know you've made it.
It's a loop trail thattraverses fields and a wetland
habitat, and we're currently atthe trailhead just to the left
of the garage near the raingarden, which appears here on

(01:09):
this map as a little dottedsquare.
The garage is got a little bitof a porch.
There's a garden hose and uhlooks like a workbench out
there, maybe a repurposed diningtable.
And um looks like it's justjust me, you and me here today.
And the car is driving by.
Well, let's get started.

(01:30):
Let's go walk through.
Oh, what's this?
First, it looks like we see acommemorative bench to the actor
Walton Goggins.
I always love seeing those.
Okay, first.
Um I can't believe I almostforgot.
Before we start any sleep hike,we have to get ourselves
situated.
So first, I'm gonna ask you tosit there and look inside

(01:52):
yourself.
Look deep within yourself.
And uh as you're doing so,think about all the birds of Mud
Creek.
And do you see yourself as oneof these birds?
Are you a yellow warbler with asong sweet, sweet, sweet, I'm
sweeter than sweet?

(02:12):
Or perhaps you're aruby-throated hummingbird, tiny
hummbirds that beat their wingsabout 53 times a second?
Or perhaps you're an Americanbatern.
Maybe you hear you you like tomake the gulping sounds blonc in
the springtime.
But do you like to spend timein the reeds or other

(02:34):
vegetation, standing motionless?
Or of course the green heron, alittle stocky waiting bird,
that you use insects, feathers,and bread crusts to create lures
and attract small fish.
Is that you?
Just think about it as youassume the sleep hiking
position.
And um, so what we're gonna dois get into the reverse granola

(03:00):
position.
I think that's what we need forthis one.
Reverse granola.
So that one we're gonna laydown gently.
Lie lie on your back and strapa backpack to the top of your
head.
Now, I'm gonna ask you to bendone leg behind your head with
the other extending toward adirection that only you could
understand.
Oh, okay.
Yes.
If you're feeling veryconfident now, as you thread

(03:23):
your right arm through your leftbackpack strap, then under your
body and back out again.
Okay, now that's where thegranola comes in.
Scatter some granola around youin a circle, complete circle,
so important that it's unbroken,and then put a little leftover
granola in your hand.
And then take that granola andput it in your mouth.

(03:44):
I want you to notice that thismud creek is right next to the
Columbia County airport.
Oh, isn't that so relaxing?
Just the beautiful sounds ofprivate airplanes.
Zooming in and out.
They're just aloft on the air.
Just like you right now.
Don't don't chew the granola,just let it sit there and

(04:06):
breathe in.
Breathe in, your mouth full ofgranola, feeling equally
liberated and exhausted already.
That's when you know we'reready to begin.
Okay.
Well, the outer loop of theMuddy Creek hike features an
overlook of the county airportthat we'd previously noticed.

(04:28):
But we also might see beavers,muskrats, rabbits, coyotes, a
bird, maybe even a bobcat, ifwe're lucky.
Oh, and look over here, look atthis.
Looks like we've got some skunkcabbage.
Did you know?
Skunk cabbage generates theirown heat to melt the snow in
really early spring.
They're always an harbinger ofthe springtime.

(04:50):
It's true, the flowers appearbefore the leaves, and skunk
cabbage is characterized by thismottled maroon hood-like leaf
called a spade, which surroundsa knob-like structure called a
spadex.
And the spadex is actually afleshy spike, isn't it
something?
The skunk cabbage can live fortwenty years.
By the way, it gets its namefrom the unpleasant odor it

(05:13):
emits away from the plant toattract pollinators that are
attracted to the rotting meatsmell.
Are you relaxed yet?
Oh, we've got a dead end here.
Something's happened.
There's a sign saying that uhthe partial trail closure.
The closed portion of the redtrail is highlighted in orange.
The beaver have flooded thetrail and boardwalk.

(05:37):
Oh my goodness, beavers havebeen busy, okay?
Let's go find another routethen.
Walking?
As we do that, let's thinkabout this skunk cabbage.
Skunk cabbage reminds me of aquote I read from Jay Shetty,
the motivational speaker.
And apparently, this is a realjob, I guess.
The chief purpose officer atthe Calm app.

(06:00):
Here's what Jay Shetty said,and I hope it helps you as we're
walking.
Uh you were really close to thehighway down this trail.
Here's what Jay Shetty said,and I hope it helps you.
Self-love is how you feel aboutyourself when you are by
yourself.
Choose people who choose you.

(06:24):
Read that again.
End quote.
Your life doesn't need to lineup with everyone else's.
You might not be married at 30.
The one thing that stays withyou is your breath.
And in case you're still awake,here are some other topics from
Jay Shetty's Instagram feed,where he has 16.4 million

(06:47):
followers.
Here are some of the things hetalks about.
The biggest relationshipmistakes.
The wrong person.
The perfect person.
Pay attention to this.
Aging backwards.
Think about it.
And manifestation.

(07:09):
Now we're walking through thistrail.
I'm seeing what do we havehere?
An interpretive sign.
What does it say?
Dogwood.
It's a sign that says dogwood.
Here we go.
There's a white pipe in theground.
Watch your step as you laythere on your couch or your

(07:32):
shalong drifting off to sleep.
Oh, here's another s anotherinterpretive sign.
Fragmites.
A non-native invasive reedfound throughout most of the
United States.
Non-native invasive.
Wow.
You learn something new everytime you take a sleep hike.

(07:55):
You know what I mean?
I do, I certainly do.
And say non-native invasive atthe same time.
We're turning the bend here inthe trail.
The clouds are just breakingopen, revealing wonderful
sunshine.
And what I'm seeing here is awooden boardwalk.

(08:16):
You can hear I'm walking.
And there's birds, a red-wingedblack bird flying above it.
Trying to find a place to land.
There's nowhere it can landbecause there's just so much uh
standing water because thebeaver created this it's just a
whole ecosystem.
There's a goose on the gazebo.

(08:36):
There's a goose on the gazebo.
It's just a vast wetlandecosystem here created by who
can only be assumed to be a verybusy beaver.
That is what they do.
And you know, in her book,Beaver Land, Layla Phillip
writes about how beavers haveconstructed dams so vast that
they can be seen from the outerspace, if you can believe it.

(08:59):
I don't know about this one,but apparently there is one in
Canada that you can see fromspace.
During the Pleistocene era,North America was home to
Castoroides Ohioienses.
I don't know if I'm saying thatright, but this beaver was as
large as black bears,apparently, just walking around

(09:20):
with mastodons and saber-toothedcats.
Isn't that something?
Isn't that something?
Just think about that.
Now breathe in, breathe in.
As this airplane fliesdangerously close to my

(09:48):
microphone.
Drifting up.
And you've been relaxed into acomplete trance now that that
airplane flew over.
Here's a little informationabout wetlands.
You know, contrary to popularopinion, they're more than

(10:12):
watery landscapes.
But do you know just how theybenefit the environment, these
wetlands?
Well, by maintaining thefiltering, storing, and
recycling functions of thelandscape.
There's pollution prevention,there's productivity, there's
sediment control, and because welive in capitalistic society,

(10:35):
there's dollars and cents.
Yes, wetlands supportcommercial fishing, recreational
fishing, and hunting.
Think about this.
Now the trail is getting alittle soggy.
So we came to Mud Creek.
Of course we're gonna see somemud.
Think about no mud.

(10:56):
There's no mud in a sleep hikefor you as far as you're
concerned.
And we're back on the boardwalkhere, just reflecting on all
that the beavers do for us.
They're recognized as keystonespecies because they've got this
ability to transformlandscapes.
Dams create wetlands, increasebiodiversity, improve water

(11:16):
quality, and help mitigate theeffect of climate change.
Oh, hold on, there's actually asign here that uh let's take a
moment.
And look at this sign depictinga great blue heron.
Now I I don't personally seeone.
I'm looking around, I don't seea great blue heron.
But I do have this sign, andthe sign is a black and white

(11:39):
drawing with a big descriptionthat says the majestic slate
bluebird stands about four feettall.
Isn't that something?
Well, I don't see it here, butI am grateful for that black and
white drawing.
This is what it sounds like tobe near the beaver pond.

(12:01):
It's also what it sounds liketo be standing directly under
somebody's private airplane,going who knows where.
Probably Great Barrington.
Well, it's getting dark now, soI guess we'd better head back.

(12:22):
This concludes anotherextremely relaxing sleep hike
through the muddy creeks of MudCreek.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of Sleep Hike from the
Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast.

(12:43):
Sleep well.