Weather: Sunny, breezy, upper 50s
Music: Radio, plus occasional multi-part harmony
It felt downright summery as I sat in Parrish Circle in shorts and sunglasses, dodging school buses and waiting for Alex (center) and Alicia. We zipped out and had a herky-jerky ride up to Ridley Creek as I kept hitting the gas hard before remembering that there wasn't much in the way of "open road".
There was too much brown for summer, but spring was definitely in the air and we had a couple of hours so the White Trail looked like a good option. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of mud. Never enough to suck your shoe off, but plenty on already-eroded slopes that offered little in the way of handholds. I pointed my toes outwards and it was still hard to get traction at times.
We talked (well, mostly I talked) about good and bad music, family cars, and regional cuisine. The weather was idyllic. There were few views but we did take the opportunity to climb up onto a maybe 20-foot high pile of rocks and rest for a bit. I mentioned how hard it was to stay focused on the sensual experience of the woods instead of thinking, ruining everybody else's sensual experience.
The White Trail has a fair number of ups and downs, which keeps things interesting; Alex remarked that it was a lot more interesting than the Fairmount Park trails, although that's not setting the bar particularly high. You also get to spend a few pleasant minutes walking within sight of Ridley Creek itself.
The car was downright hot when we returned after about two hours away. We had seen a number of people during a short stretch on the paved multi-use trail, but only one other person otherwise.
After the radio came up dry early on the trip home, I yelled at Alex to get the adapter out, and after much consternation and two minutes of static-riddled King Crimson, yelled that it was time to give up. The Monster adapter can't come soon enough...fortunately, Stone Temple Pilots quickly came to the rescue. Meant to take the back way home but forgot, so the return trip was uneventful. A great afternoon in the woods--thanks to Alex and Alicia for coming along!
No comments:
Post a Comment