Back To Gateway Park With Wind Damage & Disappearing Green Scum Covered Ponds

I was up early and in the pool shortly after the arrival of the sun this Sunday morning, staying in the water well over an hour.

By around noon the temperature had warmed up the outer world to 90 degrees and thus was sufficiently warm to enjoy some aerobic stimulation.

My choice for aerobic stimulation was to return to Gateway Park's mountain bike trails once again. And once again I found some new trails.

Yesterday I mentioned the green scum covered pond that had a disc golf hole next to it. Today that green scum covered pond was totally dried up. I know it got to a record breaking 108 yesterday, but that much heat really does not explain the disappearing green scum covered pond.

In the above picture you are looking at my handlebars pointing to one of the disc golf holes. This disc golf hole is not the one by the former green pond covered pond. This one showed up on one of the new trails I found today, right next to the Trinity River, which flows about 30 below the level of the trail and the disc hole.

Gateway Park Trail Blocked By Windfall

I can't imagine there are many disc golfers that make it to this hole, willing to risk their disc ending up in the Trinity.

At some point in the time between Saturday's Gateway Park pedaling and today's Gateway Park pedaling a heavy wind must have blown through the park, leaving behind large pieces of trees laying across the trails in various locations.

I detected no wind at my location of sufficient strength to do this type damage in the last 24 hours. My abode is about 4 miles east of Gateway Park.

I was later told that there were reports of several micro-burst windstorms in the D/FW zone in the past 24 hours. One of those micro-bursts must have burst through Gateway Park.

I have only experienced a couple micro-bursts since I've been in the D/FW zone. One tore apart a balloon festival in Midlothian. I only saw the aftermath of that one. I've experienced, first hand, a micro-burst bursting at my current location. It was very loud and a bit unsettling.

It is almost 3:30 this Sunday afternoon and we have yet to hit 100 today. Currently it is only 98. With that vexing omnipresent humidity making it really feel like 105.