Adventure to suburban parks

Urban living is wonderful for so many reasons. As we are three months into COVID19 I have found myself interested in a slice of suburban life.

Today I had the chance to spend a very pleasant hour and a half exploring the William Ives Trail and Meridian Neighborhood Park.



This slice of nature set between suburban neighborhoods has the suburban quiet, a steady set of walkers, well-behaved dogs, and youth on bicycles roaming along the unpaved paths.

Its a journey from Seattle (45min + one way) but the change in pace is a nice variety to days in the city.

In addition to the walking trails, the park has a nice playground area(not accessible), a large field, and a pavilion with picnic tables to round out your park visit.

Anahuac NWR Bird Rookery

In 2019 I had a chance to visit Anahuac NWR. With COVID-19 driving many of us to seek out activities that can be done safely with social distancing during the COVID pandemic. 

The Anahuac NWR Bird Rookery part of Anahuac NWR is a bit odd, its tucked many miles from the main visitor infrastructure but it has some great short trails to get you into the lowlands where the gulf of Mexico and the State of Texas blend together.

The first parking area will put you at the live oak trailhead. The area is well paved, easy for my sedan to navigate. Its buggy, I suggest you bring your bug spray. The total length of the trail is less than 1/2 a mile and you will move across a diverse set of landscapes ending at a waterway where you can feel far away from everything.

The second parking area you will come across puts you at the Rookery trial head. This trail is better developed (Fewer bugs), longer perhaps 1- mile with an equally diverse set of landscapes, ending at a large field that is half marsh, half solid land. This trail is a birding dreamscape. We saw a couple out looking for a few feathered friends who were on their trips back north.

I think that I most enjoyed was the water crossing at the very start of the trail, so many fish, birds, and turtles to be seen. We easily lingered for 30 min spotting these animals as they enjoyed the warm sun and cooler water.

We coupled our trip to this part of the refuge with an afternoon on Bolivar flying kits and enjoying the gulf.

The total trip from downtown Houston and back was 9 hours. A great chance to get out of the city for the day.

Day 1 #7DaysOfSocialMediaVulnerabilityChallenge2017

I'm a passionate day hiker nothing makes me happier than getting out and doing 6 to 11 miles on a trail, where I feel relatively alone, guided by a path created years before. When hiking the slight elements of risk exist and my success is ruled by my actions. When hiking alone I can easily get lost in my own thoughts. When lost in thought I pass hours and miles without consciously processing what's happening in the world around me. When I look up the physical space I'm in is lovely and alive and something very few have access to, it’s a moment of bliss unlike anything I can re-create.

Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma

 

While the name is deceiving the Wichita Mountains are filled with wonder and life. What is lacking in height is made up in surprise. After over a year in Lubbock we found ourselves traveling back to St. Louis for a funeral, with no time to prepare flights were unreasonable so we made the drive. On our return trip we stopped for the night in the Lawton OK are, about 30min from the Wichita Mountains. Needing a chance of pace and bit of exercise after several days of driving and eating we were happy to discover this area has great trails that are easy to navigate and designed for short 2 hour hikes.

As this is almost the same distance as Carlsbad NM I would not recommend this as a weekend trip from the Lubbock area unless you are really burnt out on the trails to the west. But I would highly recommend this if you are going on a road trip, I think I could have easily camped and spend several days in this area enjoying the unexpected beauty that makes up the Wichita Mountains.

 

 

As an aside, I have recently been reading quite a bit on Quanah Parker and had hoped while we were so close to get a chance to visit the star house. The man who owns the home is willing to let you see it however you need to time your visit with when he is closing up the restaurant (and that time depends on how many customers) We did not have ½ a day to wait for the restaurant to close so had to pass on this opportunity, if we are ever back I would like to see in person this incredible part of west Texas history.

A Minneapolis area 4th of July Trip

If you happen upon this blog because your trying to plan a fantastic Minneapolis area 4th of July trip, I have a fantastic one for you. If you are reading this because your a friend/ family member here was my 2014 trip.

Stop #1. The twin cities Jazz fest. Held primary in St.Paul, we made it a cousin gathering and started at the outdoor stages, rain brought us indoors and the music continued!

http://www.hotsummerjazz.com/ 

Stop #2 was dinner at Buca. While its a chain the decor is always a good time, the food fabulous and if you have a group or family who you go with the mix is perfect.  http://www.bucadibeppo.com/ 

 Stop #3. Coffee, Minneapolis has some great coffee house sections. NE Minneapolis has the Spyhouse that makes a good latte and has the perfect coffee shop atmosphere to relax, visit or get some work done.

 http://spyhousecoffee.com/

Stop #4. No summer in Minnesota should pass without some time on water in a boat. My trip we drove about 75 minuets  over to Taylor's Falls and spent a very enjoyable two days traveling down to Stillwater. This takes two vehicles or hitchhiking to accomplish. Free campsites are on the river but due to flooding we stayed at William O Brian State Park.
http://www.nps.gov/sacn/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Stop #5 Bike paths in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is one of the best bike cities in America. The midtown greenway is very enjoyable with safe, well used and maintained paths sprinkled with murals and sculptures.                     http://midtowngreenway.org/                            You can stop at the global market for lunch or coffee if you so desire as its right off the trail and has bike parking. http://www.midtownglobalmarket.org/ 

Stop #6. Continuing with the time along the Croix went about 90 minutes down to Frontenac State Park and hiked along the river banks. A 4 mile hike that takes some time and effort because as our park ranger told us what you go down you must come back up. The "lake" where the Croix and the Mississippi merge had sailboats sprinkling it, if I had more time I would love to see if you can do a day rental in that area.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/frontenac/index.html

And end it with some fireworks by Lake Minnetonka 

http://www.excelsior-lakeminnetonkachamber.com/lake-minnetonka-4th-of-july.html 

Walter Jacobs Park Mooringsport, LA 71060

A gem of a discovery. The Walter Jacobs Park in Morrningsport Louisiana is a short 1 hour drive from Longview Tx. It has about 5 miles of true nature trails that loop and wind to allow for all levels of dedication. Its free to visit but has limited hours so check before you go. At the parking area you find a nature center with all sorts of interesting local things to see, touch and learn about. The lady working the Sunday we visited was very friendly and had lots of interesting information on the local environment, including the existence of a Bear population that moves between the south eastern Louisianan area and the east Texas area around Pittsburgh and Jefferson.

The trails are varied with handicap accessible paved trails, sandy paths, bridges over slow low creeks and trails through the fields under the power cuts. Due the the looping system the park has LOTS of trail signs and great maps but you will most likely question if you are really where you think you are, luckily they all loop back to the nature center.

Surrounding the nature center visitors have the opportunity to see rescued birds and a rescued deer. Out of sight are kept the birds that are being rehabilitated to release to the wild.

We easily spent 2 hours walking the trails and exploring the park. After it was a quick drive into Shreveport for dinner and ices. This is on my must visit list for those who are spending some time in this part of the county. 

Glimer Lake

Lake Gilmer

Lake Gilmer first opened to the public on September 29th 2001 and is located at FM 852, 4 miles west of downtown Gilmer.

Lake size is 1,010 surface acres. There is an additional 1,557 acres of mitigation property that will be developed into combination hiking and nature trails and bird watching stations. A swimming and picnic area will be developed on the north end of the lake near the dam area.

If you are interested in Lake Gilmer, please contact Lake Ranger Danny Lancaster at 903.843.8209

Lake Gilmer Park and Kelsey Creek Sanctuary Nature Trails Are Now Open at Lake Gilmer located on Armadillo Road, just off Cherokee Trace.

http://gilmer-tx.com/?page_id=326

I visited today and did both the smaller loops and about 2 miles of the 4 mile trail before it started to rain. the park is awesome, finding it was a bit of an ordeal, i have no advice for you but stay on paved roads and keep a good sense of direction to you.

I am confidant that this is a place I will visit again, only 20 min from Longview its a great get away and today I was the only one there! WIN WIN.

The smaller loop at the park itself is paved and the trees and plant are labled making it a great spot to learn more about the areas plants.

The longer straight trail was very well marked and also had a sprinkling of plant labels as you venture along

Daingerfield State Park

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/daingerfield

We bought ourselves a Texas State Park Pass one of our first weekends here and have been making a point to visit as many parks as we can.

Daingerfield has a fantastic path around that lake, with picturesque bridges and lovely lake views.

Day Hike, Daingerfield State Park

Lake at Daingerfield State Park

Wildlife at Daingerfield State Park

Caddo Lake State Park

Caddo Lake State Park is an awesome gem in East Texas. The trail system is not very extensive, however its very enjoyable to spend your day walking and learning along it. They have boats for rent, some fantastic cabins and group sites available as well as picnic and fishing locations along a bayou of Lake Caddo. Originally a CCC project its amazing to witness the longevity of these projects.

Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge

A Texas winter day hike in Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Well marked trails, free entrance, friendly volunteer staff, canoes for rent.

The grounds are a bit unusual but once you get into the trails is majestic, the best hike I have had in Texas yet

Caddo lake is both in LA and TX and looks to have some fascinating areas, Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place to start!

Tyler State Park

Continuing to cross train while I await the motivation to fix the brakes on the bike I headed to Tyler state park. Its a smallish state park with a nice selection of trails. I did the loop around the lake, about 3 miles and attempted to find loop C but ended up doing part of loop B. The A,B,C,D trails could use some better markings, however the park is small and you find yourself by the road frequently so no real worries of getting wicked lost. It was a fantastic Texas winter day, lows in the 40's and Highs in the mid 60's

Several of the trails are bike friendly, mountain bikes are a must on the trails. I have also seen many people riding road bike on the driving loop in the park. We are without a bike holder on our car, so I have not had the opportunity to take it out in the park yet.

 The park has an abundance of well maintained campground and cabins for rent. Next time we have friends come down for the weekend I think I will be suggesting that we stay in the cabins and spend the weekend, hiking, fishing, paddle boating and biking.

** on a side note getting photos off of my work blackberry and onto blogger was a huge pain. Blogger is too large of a forum for Blackberry browser to support so I had to load the photos to Facebook, download them on my laptop and than post them on this entry... uggg, I hate technology that can not cross communicate

Camp Roundup

Almost done with the interior section of the south unit, a couch surfing friend and I did the southern portion of the camp roundup trail. It was a beautiful august day and the four mile hike lead us to several wonderful views and gradual climbs. Would be a great path for middle school students. The parking is a bit odd, with no designated pull off space you end up putting your car partway in the grass. And no mammal life was seen during our hike.