The morning was beautiful, the sky was blue, the moon could be seen in-between the trees in my front yard, and the temperatures were in the low 70’s. It was a perfect day for a walk on the Rachel Carson Trail!
Ann Marie and I have hiked this trail many times, we completed the entire trail back in April of 2013. Even further back, a hike on the trail was one of our first outings together! There are lots of sections which are great for short walks.
This trail was named The Rachel Carson Trail since it passes near where the famous writer and environmentalist used to live. Back in 1975 the trail was 33 miles long, today it is 46.1 miles long, stretching from North Park to Harrison Hills County Park near the town of Freeport. Like so many trails in the country, it is a work in progress. Due to road work, new homes and safety concerns, the trail often changes its route.
I have 3 different trail guides, one from 1975, one from 1997 and one from 2004. I guess (?) I should get the newest guide to complete my collection. A guide really isn’t needed; the trail is very well marked!
The section I was walking this morning was changed a few years ago to eliminate some of the road walking and to take the trail back into the greenery. Ann Marie and I hadn’t been on this section, so I thought it would be a great place to take a stroll.
I had just finished reading “A Walk in the Park”, by Kevin Fedarko. This book tells about his “walk” through the Grand Canyon, an idea that turned out to be much harder than he originally thought. After reading books about long hikes and extreme camping, they just make me want to go out into the wilderness. Now, the RCT may not be wilderness, but it is out in the woods.
The section I was going on was all of about a mile and a half. That would be a good distance for me to haul my lazy butt without killing me. After all, it is just a short walk…
The trail from where I started took me up a slight slope to the edge of a hill overlooking the turnpike and rt.910. The highways soon disappeared but the noise from them stayed with me almost the entire walk. I came across a farmer’s field with wild grass growing beside it. The sunlight was illuminating the buds at the ends of the stalks. I got a bit wet from the dew as walked through them. I was hoping they weren’t hiding any ticks.
I came across an old cement structure; I believe it is an old sedimentation tank from back in the days when a Nike site was located near-by. Some cement steps led up to nothing, whatever was there is now long gone. Just the tank and some other cement structures, all the rest has disappeared.
A bit further on, the trail drifted away from the edge of the hillside and the noise of the traffic lessened. It was nice walking along the level, twisting path. Then I came to the downhill section.
The RCT is known for not taking an easy way whenever a straight line will work. The path led right down a rather steep hill, the trail was basically a sloped wall of rocks. I went down carefully, not wanting to slip. It wasn’t as bad as I imagined and I was down alongside a stream before I knew it.
The air was a bit cooler near the stream. There were lots of wildflowers growing in batches on either side of the trail. A few mud holes were intermingled with the dirt path but nothing to cause any problems, the tracks of deer in them showed that they had recently been on the trail also. I crossed a dried up section of the stream and soon was at the road and the end of this brief walk. I only saw one person while I was on the trail, a runner who made me feel old as he sped past me. I remember the days when I used to do that…for now though, I’m happy to just take my time and enjoy the flowers, the birds and the fresh air!
No comments:
Post a Comment