Head and Shoulders, Knees & Toes - Friday, April 1, 2022

Today is April Fool's Day, but this blog is no joke. National Walking Week starts today and runs through April 7. There are walks scheduled by AVA: America's Walking Club[s] for each day. Clubs in 20+ states have routes set up for walkers. 

Here in the San Antonio area, we have the following walks during this week:
April 1: Friedrich Wilderness Park, San Antonio
April 2: 11th Tour de Castroville walk (the Little Alsace of Texas), event tent at Castroville Regional Park. Start 8:20-11:30 am. SPECIAL NOTE: This Volksmarch is in conjunction with the annual Tour de Castroville...a Walk, Run, and Ride. Registration is separate from the Tour de Castroville registration. Go to the Volksmarch Start/Finish tables under the tent to register.
April 3: Cibolo Nature Center Walk, starts at Comfort Inn, Boerne, Texas,  8-11 am.
April 4: Stone Oak Year-round Walk, starts at Drury Inn & Suites North, 801 North Loop 1604 between TX 281 and Stone Oak Parkway. Start time: 9 am-noon.
April 5: Leon Creek Greenway/Mainland @ Mainland Trailhead, 8238 Mainland Dr., San Antonio. Start time: 8-10:30 am.
April 6: Downtown Churches Walk Year-round Event, Residence Inn by Marriott, 628 S. Santa Rosa Ave, San Antonio. Start time: 9 am-noon. 
April 7: Leon Creek Greenbelt Walk Year-round Event, the lobby of the Drury Inn at NW I-10 and Loop 1604.

This morning, I arrived at Friedrich Wilderness Park at 9:45 am, just before registration closed. I was undecided if I wanted to do a 5k or 10k, so I got the 10k directions for a difficult hike. We had 13 walkers today.

Because of the terrain, I wore hiking boots, took my hiking poles, and wore my knee brace as a precaution. And, of course, I had my obligatory bottle of water.

A beautiful morning awaited on the trails. The temperature was about 62 degrees with a light breeze. What a delight to see the mountain laurels are in full bloom. In the Northwest, where we lived for over 35 years, we had lilacs which are one of my favorite fragrances. In Texas, we have mountain laurels which have a more muted scent but are still nice. 

Mountain laurel shrub.

I started on the 
Main Loop Trail.

One-half mile from the parking lot, I turned right to stay on the Main Loop Trail. There is a gate at this point. The purpose of the gate is to close the upper portion of the park if there is rain. Erosion is a big problem and people traipsing through when it's wet make the problem worse. 

Explanation of trail closures.

The Main Loop Trail looks so EASY here!
HA! This is a fake-out. 

These nice trail maps are
throughout the park. They don't want 
people getting lost out here in the heat!

While the trail was flat with pea gravel, I made good time. The trail started up gradually and then the gravel quickly turned to step-like rocks. It was medium-hard toward the start, but got steeper and rockier in a hurry!

Going up!

It's a must to keep an eye out so you don't injure your "head and shoulders, knees, and toes." Do you remember that song from camp? I sure do. It was our camp calisthenics. 

It's easier than you think to catch a toe on a small rock or hit your head on a low-hanging tree. If you do either of those things, you could end up with knee and toe injuries. You have to always keep your eyes open for problem areas. Even small pebbles on bigger rocks can cause a marble-like effect in which you feel like you're walking on ball bearings! 

Again, there were many mountain laurels gracing the trails. My senses were attuned to the scents of mountain laurel and junipers. Cool breezes pleasantly brushed my face and arms. 

Another mountain laurel.

I made it from the Main Loop Trail to the Vista Loop Trail. Soon I would have to decide the length and difficulty I wanted to do today; the first of seven straight days of 5k-10k walks. I had until partway through the Vista Loop Trail to make up my mind. 

Yup, this is what
I'm talking about.

Close-up of mountain
laurel flowers.

Here, I am at the intersection of the 
Main Loop and Vista Loop trails. 

Guide to the trail
difficulty levels.

Once I looked at the trail difficulty level and length of the difficulty, I had the information needed to choose either the 5k or 10k route. The trail guide above showed the 2.9 mile Restoration Trail (the 10k route) as difficult. I wanted to save my energy for the other six walks this week, most of which will be 10k. I chose to do the 5k walk. 

Even though I had 10k instructions, I have hiked this park enough to know where I can cut through to make the hike shorter. The Upland Range Trail is an easy cross-over back to the Main Loop Trail. I had already done two miles and it was 1.1 mile to the exit. I turned right and enjoyed the rest of the hike down. 

Upland Range Trail and another
mountain laurel. 

The breeze was so pleasant and birds unknown to me were carrying on in the trees. I passed some ladies heading down the hill, but I didn't know any of them.

The sign by this plant said
"Mountain Grape, Vitis monticola."
I don't think so, this isn't a 
vine!

Wildflower identifier kiosk.

Yuccas blooming next to the 
parking lot.

This is a very popular park and not everyone here is a volksmarcher. In fact, this park is so popular on weekends that you have to get to their small parking lot as soon as they open the gate at daybreak. If you don't get there early, you have to park along a busy road or at an elementary school about 1/2 mile away. 

As I was leaving, I saw Sheri Logan and asked her if she was going to lunch. She said she hadn't thought about it, so I invited her to go with me. We had a very nice lunch at Panera Bread. Thanks, Sheri, for taking a lunch break.

After lunch, I ran a couple of errands. First, I had to go pick up a Rabies Certificate for my cat in case they want to see it when we go through Canada this summer. Second, I needed to get air let out of my tires. I had them filled when it was cold; but now that it's hot, they're at 47 psi. They should be at 36 psi so Discount Tire took care of that for me.

Tomorrow, I am off to Castroville (the Little Alsace of Texas). My plan is to do a 10k walk.

Susan Medlin couldn't walk with me today because she was busy marking the walk in Castroville for tomorrow. And tomorrow, she is volunteering at a checkpoint, so I will see her when I walk by. She does so much for Volksmarching! Kudos to you, Susan!