Fall Hiking Club Route 4
Route 4 was mostly open ended. There was a map, but no particular hints on what to expect or search for. Days into fall, the weather still undetermined on which season it intends to follow, it’s probably too difficult to predict even a week ahead.
The path starts with a climb up the old Quarry Road, now closed to traffic. Clouds are low and thick and the breezes are cool. Golden prairie grasses extend from either side of the gravel road, dotted with trees still thick with green leaves.
Wild sumac hints at the soon coming of the autumn colors,
while hardy asters glow in final homage to the last days of summer.
The trail turns to wander through the Hardwood Forest Restoration Area,
then to the Meramec River overlook. The water seems low. More of the leaves are beginning to turn here, and grasses are sprouting on a long narrow sandbar.
Darker clouds, a few splashes of rain, and distant rumbles that might or might not be thunder, nudge us on our way.
The route loops back along a short section of the River Trail, then down Barn Road, overlooking hills and prairies on it’s way back toward the wetlands trail.
Rambling ... 