We chose to walk down Riverside and I mean down as it is one long hill leading down to the river after starting off flat for about a mile. Walking was comparatively easy except for one area of loose pebbles which did make it a bit trickier as they tended to roll out from underfoot.
After a several week hiatus from walking at any of my favorite parks, due mostly to the unknown fear of the Corona virus, my friend BJ suggested that we go for a walk at McKinney Roughs, one of our favorite places. She too has been reluctant to venture out although when we talked about it, neither of us could explain our reticence in journeying out into what is basically wide open spaces with very few, if any other people on the same trail. Any that we might meet, we could easily maintain our social distance as we passed. McKinney Roughs is an LCRA park and they required that we wear masks when we signed in but needless to say, they came off when we actually hit the trail.
We reached the river which was running pretty full and was very dirty and followed that trail for around a half mile before branching upwards onto Bluff Trail Loop and then Ridge which eventually brought us back to the Parking Lot.
In the area where the buildings that are used for Dormitories and such which the trail actually goes through, there are a lot of flowers of different varieties that are maintained by the LCRA staff. It is a very pretty area and it also includes a stream and small pond which looks to be fairly new from when we were here before.
Altogether, we covered around 3.5 miles which was pretty good considering it was our first walk in more than a month. BJ left as she had plans for the afternoon and as usual, I was totally soaked and needed to change before the drive home. So, at the same time, I treated myself to an ice cream from the office which did nothing to cool me down but satisfied my inner soul. Later on, I took the dogs for their usual walk, not because I wanted to but because Sandy wouldn’t leave me alone until I got out her leash. She can be a real bug when she wants to be. We did shorten it up to a mile or so to compensate for the earlier walk. Walking wise, it was a good day covering a little over 5 miles. The hot tub felt really good on the aching muscles.
Written 6/19/2020
