It is another HOT Sunday in Texas. We have gone over 100 again. That makes 3 days in a row, I think, maybe 4. Methinks it is going to be one Long HOT Summer.With my mountain bike currently on the disabled list, rendering wheeling not an option, I decided to go to River Legacy Park today and walk the mountain bike trail, specifically the section of trail where a woman was badly injured a month or so ago.
I was on the trail soon after the accident, saw all the emergency workers, heard voices in the woods trying to figure out how to get the injured party out of there. I later heard from the injured lady after she read my description of that day on my blog.
This section of trail, I think they call it South Pass, but I'm not sure, is one of two that opened in recent months that are marked RED, indicating the need for an expert skill level. The other new section is called Fun Town. I could see right at the entry to Fun Town that it would be no fun for me. But I did try to bike the South Pass Trail. I made it up and down 2 hills. And then when I saw the third one, I thought, no, ain't gonna do it. It was a struggle to push the bike back out of there.
Walking this section of trail today was hard. There were far more challenging parts, that I hiked today, that I did not get near, when I made my bike attempt. A couple times today I saw what the trail was doing and thought to myself they have got to be kidding. I can see how someone could get injured in there and why it would be hard to get them out. I was just carrying myself today and I had trouble making it down several of the slopes.
I took pictures, hoping my limited photo skills would do justice to the trails, showing how, well, adventurous they are. I don't believe I succeeded.
The above picture is where I gave up my one and only attempt at biking this. Since that aborted attempt a bypass around the treacherous trail to the right has been built. As I walked the bypass I was thinking to myself, I could bike this, maybe I'll try this again. I soon was to see that that will never happen. I now get why I hear so much screaming when I bike the South Pass bypass when I'm on this part of the trail.
The above picture does not come remotely close to showing what the trail is like. I am standing at the top of the hill. The trail down to that wood bridge at the bottom of the ravine is very steep, as in so steep I was not sure I would be able to get down it without falling. And then the uphill across the bride is also very steep. I thought to myself, this could easily be the spot where the injury occurred.
Once more the picture does not do justice to this fun little section of trail. A very steep uphill, then down, then up. Did I mention that it is very steep?
And then there was the swamp. For quite a distance the trail does its ups and downs along side a swamp covered with green swamp goo. With the cicadas in full summer swoon with their constant noise-making, along with the jungle vegetation and then this swamp, I felt like I was in Africa. This looked like the type of swamp an alligator might leap out of. Or a snake. The day that lady was injured I was talking to a guy who had come out of the South Pass Trail, asking me how the hell do you get back to the parking lot. He told me he'd seen a big snake on the South Pass Trail. I was hoping for an encounter with one today. I was being very vigilant. But, no snake. No armadillo. No wild boars. No bobcats. No alligators. No tarantulas.I was a hot, wet mess by the time I got back to more sedate trail. I then made a bee-line for my vehicle.
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