I found some new trails to walk!! yay! We don’t seem to have very many around here….mostly paved & then those aren’t abundant. But I like dirt!
A couple of months ago a friend of mine had posted that he was walking a trail called Fitch Nature Trail on the University of Kansas field studies property. It’s about a 10 mile drive from my house…about as close as you get when living in the country. I’ve tried getting to this trail once before, but the road was closed…they were replacing a bridge & the workers told me it was a long way around. But, yesterday, with 50 degree temps & under gray skies, I made my way to the trail.
There are actually a few trails at this site…each one fairly short, but all intersect, so I was able to hike around 5+ miles. It was quiet, & as I climbed up one rocky hill, I saw another car pull in the trailhead, but otherwise I had the place to myself. I took the Roth trail, which climbs up high to a super long view, but a nice one, of the University & it’s iconic buildings that sit high above the town of Lawrence. I hit a short segment of paved trail, which had this ‘Bee hotel’. I’d heard about this type of bee ‘nest’ last summer from a friend who works at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab in Crested Butte…they had placed some of these interesting boxes around the woods & mountains in Gothic.
They look like a work of art of to me...
I’ve been trying to get out everyday for a walk or walk/run in the woods, taking advantage of our warmer temps. The paved trail soon ended & I was back on dirt, following the trail up hills & over rocks. I saw an owl & 6 deer. Nothing too exciting, but I’m not taking any sightings of wildlife for granted…I always stop, look, listen & feel grateful. (The day before I saw 5 redbirds in one tree!)
I found my way down a short road & back to the trailhead. Today is freezing-ass cold, but hopefully tomorrow will be warmer & I’ll be back on the trails.
There is a new idea that’s been bouncing around my brain…both good & bad. I considering letting go of this website. The number one reason NOT to, is how much I enjoy looking back on all my trips. I have the photos printed off, but I love to read back over the text…to see what I was feeling; the names of places & people; etc. That’s a pretty big reason for me keep it up. But the cons are out weighing the pros. It takes a long time to create each page; there are always issues with the site that keep me busier than I want to be fixing problems; it’s not expensive, but there is definitely a cost; & I’m pretty sure there are only about 3 people-other than me-that read it. It’s not my wish to try to commercialize it, so that’s not a reason to keep it. I’m thinking of how I can retain all the same information, in a different & simpler format, but one that wouldn’t take as much time but so I’d have my memories documented…for me.
But letting it go seems hard…maybe more than it should be. It’s 10+ years of my life across many, many miles & places…each trip seems precious to me.
These are some of my random thoughts…we’ll see what happens.