St Louis region – Page 10

Grant’s Trail

Saturday busy and not much time, but I managed a short walk on a section of Grant’s Trail. It’s paved and mostly level, a wonderful bike trail I’ve been on many times before in the summer.

It’s blustery cold under the thickly clouded skies, but it’s also one of the most active trail I’ve seen this month. Although hardly crowded, there are multiple bravely layered joggers, some excited dogs walking their somewhat less enthusiastic humans, and even a couple of bikes.

The Tesshire Drive section I’m on, is lined by ball fields and apartment buildings, with several footpaths leading onto the trail.

Wooded stretches cut the winds and echo with the chorus of birds. Side trails lead to museums and parks to explore on another day.

Earth City Levee Trail

Friday tired, and hungry too, since I forgot my lunch today. I’m tempted to cut this short, but once I’m outside and moving, I love being out in the thick damp air and melting snow.

One side of the trail is part of the Riverwoods loop, but across the road it stretches across the river bottoms and along the railroad to highway 370.

Most of the snow has melted from the path. Puddled reflections of trees and low thick clouds line the pavement. It’s surprisingly quiet early in my walk. The occasional ding of construction equipment and the whistle and swish of a train are all I really hear until I’m closer to the highway roar.

There’s a bike lane now! I’ve crossed this bridge many times on my bike, into St Charles and onto the Katy Trail. Much as I love the easy access, it’s always been faintly terrifying. This is going to be amazing!

Dusk falling fast in the foggy air, I’m heading home for dinner and dry socks and summer biking dreams.

Tiemeyer Park

A quick cold walk today, in the rapidly thickening snow. It’s been coming and going all day today. Huge fluffy crystals floated past my classroom windows this morning. They slid into sleety pellets for awhile, then melted away, before starting over again.

By the time I left the building, it was all snow again and a loose slushy pile covered my windshield.

The beautifully landscaped pond is the centerpiece of the park. Intersecting paved trails crisscross the grounds between playgrounds and pavilions and a stately war memorial.

The snow is thickening, my boots are leaking, and my fingers are beginning to freeze. I’ll end this ramble early tonight, and huddle in for a book and a bowl of chili, to plan my next trip here.

Truman Park

I wasn’t too sure about this one when I first turned in. I’d never heard of it before. I just found it on “parks near me” on the GPS. I was pretty sure the GPS had no idea what it was talking about at first. It directed me down what looked like an abandoned alley alongside a strip mall.

But then the alley opened up into wide fields and a nearly frozen pond. A fountain splashed in in the remaining open water and a greenway trail lead off into the woods.

It’s mostly a neighborhood trail at first, edged on both sides by housing areas and the drone of highway traffic. But it’s pretty and restful and filled with the chirp of woodland birds, and for a time, a distant honking of geese.

The pavement ends abruptly, and narrow leaf covered nature trail winds along the edge of a ridge and then farther back into the woods.

Carefully placed fallen logs outline parts of the trail. Red blazes on trees and rustic signs guide the way in between.

I’m not really sure where all it goes. I walked and took pictures and paused for the scolding of a startled explosion of birds from a brush pile. They took to the trees to chirp and flutter their displeasure at me. Only the occasional flash of red from a pair of cardinals in the mix was visible for more than a second.

A slushy mess is coming in tonight. The clouds are thickening, it’s already growing dusky, and I have a long walk to return to the truck. I have to turn back for this trip and save the rest of the exploration for the next time.

Vago Park

Late afternoon, slanting sun. We’re slowly getting a little more daylight, but it doesn’t last long, and the breeze is icy cold.

There’s a pretty little trail along the playground at the back of Vago Park. It’s not long, and seems mostly designed for strolling with a dog or small child while supervising the playground.

Benches and tiny picnic gazebos line the path, nearly all facing the playground. Wide fields, BBQ grills and horseshoe pits add to the family fun.

Four children, inured to the cold, shriek and giggle and run on the playground. I pass them, planning to take another lap, but the call of the warmth of my heater lures me in as soon as I pass my truck.

Lone Elk Park

The sun is bright in the frigid air and silvery flurries of ice sparkle through the trees. Several cars join me on a slow circuit of the park. This fellow seems bored by our presence and doesn’t even react when I edge off the road at his side.

It’s mating season, and hiking is not encouraged. It’s an admonition I mostly manage to follow. A small tower overlooks the valley and the ice rimmed lake, and partially sates my desire to be out in the air and climb.

Across the street, the World Bird Sanctuary has it’s own walking trails, as well as bird feeders, exhibits, and a nature center.

I sit for awhile at a cold wooden picnic table surrounded by bird feeders. My attempts to be convincingly invisible in a dark purple coat are less than successful, but, with my camera trained on a feeder, I manage a catch a few birds just before they dart away.

Chain of Rocks Bridge

It’s Eagle Days on the Old Chain of Rocks bridge; an annual event on the old Route 66 crossing. Telescopes are carefully trained on nests and soaring birds. Half frozen guides are still enthusiastically pointing them out, even in the last moments they close for the day.

There’s a parking fee at the bridge, which I didn’t realize, so I drove down to the shuttle lot off the Riverfront Trail. The shuttle just left, but the sunshine is bright and the sky full of puff ball clouds, so I bundle up and head down the trail.

Fat, lazy, geese huddle on the lightly frozen flood plane. The breeze is icy cold on my face, but I’m otherwise warm enough.

After a short run alongside the river, the trail crosses the road and up into the woods. The trees block the wind and it’s a beautiful 40 minute walk to the bridge – probably only because I keep stopping to take pictures. It shouldn’t really take that long, but I’m enjoying it too much to care.

I hang out on the bridge awhile, taking pictures of the structures and the shadows and the gulls overhead.

I see a single soaring eagle and a far away nest through the telescope and the guidance of the near frozen volunteer.

They’re ready to close. The sun is descending and the wind grows sharp and cold over the water. I happily now accept the shuttle ride back and sink into the warmth of my truck and my thermos of coffee.

Sioux Passage Park

Thick clouds and cool breezes tussle with the overnight warming that melted away yesterday’s glaze of ice. Temperatures are dropping already and will throughout the day.

Wide, cleared fields throughout the upper level of the park, designated for disc golf and horseback riding, are edged by thick brush and tall trees alive with birds.

I wandered into an little alcove of land, surrounded on three sides by the brush. It’s quiet. The only unnatural sounds are softly muted traffic and an occasional airplane. The rush of wind through the bushes sounds stronger than it feels.

A cardinal, so bright I think he’s a child’s discarded balloon, burst into sudden flight. He flits from tree to tree, daring me to capture him, usually flying off just before I manage to get him into focus.

The lower level river access road is open, but only just. The floods still splash onto the roadway in places, and high water marks are still damp on the trees.

It’s sharply colder here, beyond the protection of the trees. The river churns past, fierce in it’s power.

Love Park

An early morning call and a snow day gift preempt the incoming ice storm. The clouds hang heavy and low and the air is sharply cold.

A pretty wooded surprise, Love Park is hidden behind the chaos of Manchester Road.

A narrow trail winds up the ridge between two picnic shelters. Even with the background drone of traffic, it’s alive with the chatter and chirp of of endless birds flitting between the branches and the clatter of a woodpecker high in a tree.

The trail grows damp as I climb and begins to freeze. Roots and stones cross the path, although fallen logs have been sawed through and cleared off the path. I step carefully, suddenly aware of how isolated I really am, in spite of the highway nearby.

A second short trail, connecting the restrooms and ball field, is full of it’s own surprises. Winter berry color pops within the tangle of grey twigs, and mushrooms line a fallen limb. A small wooden bridge spans a not quite frozen creek, that swirls and splashes over limbs and stones.

A few minutes to write at the edge of the stream, and it’s time to drift back home, to watch the lowering clouds sputter their sleet from the safety of my deck.

St Vincent Greenway

The brief faux spring is over. Thick darkly puffy clouds lumber across the sky. I wander around the college campus, looking for the trail head and for a visitors lot to park that won’t get me towed or tickets within minutes of leaving my truck.

I find the trail, and it seems at first to be a simple off road path for the students. It’s pleasantly busy with traffic and students. Within the campus, it overlooks fountains and landscaping and beautiful buildings. A designated crosswalk, gets me safely across a roaring intersection and heads toward the off-campus student apartments.

I really think that’s going to be all there is to it, until the trail curves behind the apartments. Suddenly, I’m on a quiet residential streets with charming old brick houses on one side and wooded fields on the other.

A few minutes walk, shared with dogs on their afternoon stroll and children walking home from school, brings me to St Vincent Park.

Ball fields stretch across the opening section of the park, followed by picnic areas and playgrounds and then a long winding trail through the woods.

The trail tempts me over and over to go a little farther, to take another curve.

I’ve gone as far as I dare tonight, in the quickly falling winter twilight. I can’t wait to come back with a bike, and follow it to its end.