After taking the summer off both because of the heat and also because of the Coronavirus, my friend BJ and I went walking at McKinney Roughs. We both love walking here as not only are the trails interesting without being too challenging to us of the older generation but they are varied enough to give us plenty of exercise.
The car park was pretty full usually an indication that others are out there somewhere and the chances are that we would cross paths with a couple or more of them. We decided to take Coyote Road which leads down towards the river and we had barely started when we passed a very large group of hikers coming from the opposite direction. Actually, there were two groups both belonged to the same hiking club from Georgetown. The first group had about a dozen cheery souls and in the second, there were eight. They all exchanged greetings as they passed by and quite obviously, were having a very enjoyable time. Incidentally, they were all wearing face masks as were we. Only after they had passed did I realize that I had just missed out on a very good shooting opportunity. I commented to BJ that they were enjoying themselves as was noted by the exchange of greetings by all of them. Must be fun to belong to a group like that but I fear, they would want to walk much faster than my old legs can carry me. These are the sort of hikers that think nothing of a brisk ten mile hike in the morning just to limber up. Besides, I couldn’t stop to take pictures. Oh well…
We continued down Coyote Run until we came to Bluff Trail Loop taking it to head back in the direction of the parking lot. This trail is a bit of an uphill climb for most of the way before intersecting with Woodland to complete the walk. Altogether, we covered about four miles. Not content with walking on such a beautiful day, we sat in the rocking chairs in the shade for a while chatting and catching up with each others lives. I guess I did most of the talking as I had so much news and information regarding my new (to me) truck and RV. That plus the current events of the Corona Virus and the upcoming election as both of us are Biden supporters.
All in all, a very enjoyable few hours of walking.
Written 11/2/2020
It’s definitely harder to walk with a group when you have a camera; I’m sure all the stopping for pictures annoys the other hikers, even if they’re too polite to say so. That’s one of the reasons I (usually) prefer solo hiking.
It doesn’t help when you are older and walk slower as well as taking pictures
Yea, I could see that being a complicated factor. I guess it’s all about finding people who walk at the same pace, then. Unfortunately, I can’t find many young people who are willing to stop every 3 minutes so I can take photos of every nice view, animal, or interesting plant that I see.
My walking buddy, BJ, is very understanding of the picture taking. She too is a bit older which helps a lot
That sounds like a good arrangement!
We always have lots to talk about.
Yeah, you talk and I isten…