**many of the original photos were lost and their absence is indicated by [their titles]***
Our regularly scheduled hike this weekend was postponed due to a dreadful illness in the family. By family, I mean me, and by dreadful illness I mean a cold. Don’t roll your eyes at me! Just because they’re common doesn’t mean they aren’t dreadful. The hike we’d planned was to be 16 miles, and that was a bit further out than we thought I should get in case I started feeling worse. But you can’t keep a good hiker down, and we planned for an extended walk on our local trail for the last day of this three-day weekend.
This trail is what we at home call The Trail because it begins just down the road from us, and we have put in hundreds of miles on it over the last 20 years. It connects to a couple other trails, has several access points, and while you’re not going to get any elevation or classic hiking in, you can do some serious mileage in a variety of ways if you’re of a mind to. We were partial to the walking variety today, with eight miles mapped out on the [Pipeline Access Road.]
This road runs parallel to the Cedar River Trail (CRT as I will now refer to it) and it is where we do our near-daily three-mile fast walks. Lately, to help prepare for elevation hikes, we hold our breath for as long as we can a couple of times during our walks. I didn’t do that today, since I already can’t breathe due to my dreadful illness. [The not-sick one.]
This road/trail isn’t as pretty as the CRT, but it has a few hills and is generally less used. We used it today so that we could make a loop instead of an out-and-back. [Pancake flats, as I call them.]
This is the second-to-last section before the road ends. We went to the end, then came back via the surface streets, admiring and criticizing houses along the way until we reached a little connector trail to the CRT. [Sheriff, I’ve spotted one!]
Just through those trees and we were back on The Trail. Ah, the CRT where we have walked,
run,
biked,
roller-bladed,
and even cross-country skied.
Where I trained for all my running races, and even did one.
Where TBG has commuted by bicycle to work (no mean feat at nearly 40 miles round trip.) A trail from which we access our favorite swimmin’ hole.
A trail that we’ve shared with most of our family members
and several friends.
Where we walked all our dogs countless times, and where we took each of them for their final walks. A trail, that although it is not far removed from suburbia in many places, we have seen bear, deer, snakes, lizards, elk, bald eagles, grouse, salmon, ducks, owls, and rabbits.
We have enjoyed this trail — The Trail — since before we even knew each other, while we were courting, and now for nearly twenty years in [dreadful] sickness and in health.
20+ years together on the trail (of love.)