Did COVID-19 ruin your dating life? Are you eager to experience romance in a post-pandemic world? Or are you just sick of trying to date nonvegans? Then join us for our first-ever Vegan Single Hiking Expedition at the ever pristine, adventuresome, and highly memorable Pickle Springs Natural Area!

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

We will meet at the parking lot right off Dorlac Road. We will then wait until 1:15 p.m. to give stragglers a chance to join us before embarking on one of the most unique hikes of your life. After we explore some of the most fascinating geological features in the entire state of Missouri, we will regroup at the trailhead, eat a well deserved lunch, then depart, hopefully with a few freshly forged love prospects in mind.

ABOUT PICKLE SPRINGS:

This 256-acre Designated Natural Area offers a two-mile Trail Through Time, with scenic views including sandstone cliffs, canyons, arches, and waterfalls. Activities include bird watching and nature hiking. Some of the interesting geologic features include a double arch that holds up a shelf of sandstone, narrow slot-like canyons, hoodoos (mound or pillar-like sandstone blocks, weathered into unusual shapes), a spring flowing out of sandstone (Pickle Springs), and sandstone talus slopes.

More than 20 species of fish, including rainbow darter, striped shiner, and silverjaw minnow, swim in the cool waters of the Pickle Creek Natural Area. The stream rushes over granite outcrops and shut-ins, as well as sandstone and a banded crystalline rock that some geologists believe is a metamorphic gneiss rock. This is one of the few places in the state where such a diversity of rocks is exposed at the surface.

What are you waiting for? Take a shot at finding the long-awaited vegan sweetheart of your dreams this National Loving Day!