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!

Zoeller Creek Trail 10k Volksmarch and Waring VFD Fish Fry - Sunday, October 31, 2021

Happy Halloween! 

I gave Andy Thomas, our friend (and Texas Volkssport Association secretary), a ride to Waring Hall for the walk today. We had a little adventure on the way there. As we tried to get onto I-10 from I-410 in San Antonio, Texas, the whole freeway was at a standstill. There had been signs warning that I-410 was closed at Ingram, but that was miles on the other side of I-10. We were only about 1/2 mile from I-10, but in ten minutes we did not move one car length toward the I-10 ramp. 

There was an on-ramp to I-410 a few feet behind me and a whole bunch of us backed off the freeway and onto the access road. From there, we took surface streets to find our way to I-10. We lost about 20 minutes of our morning trying to get around whatever was going on at the freeway interchange. We had an hour-long drive to Waring.

Fall is in the air! This morning's temperature was a chilly 47 degrees F. in Waring. The temperature in the Hill Country is about ten degrees cooler than in San Antonio. Gloves would have been nice because my hands were quite cold.

When we arrived in Waring a little after 9 am, the Volunteer Fire Department was setting up for the Fish Fry which would take place from 11 am to 3 pm. The Fish Fry is by donation only. They put out Firemen's boots and you put whatever money in the boots you would like to donate.

Waring Volunteer Fire Department
setting up for their annual Fish Fry lunch.

Andy and I signed in for the walk and set out in the historic area of Waring (about four blocks). Then we walked on country roads for the remainder of the time.

An old windmill from Chicago's
Aermotor Co.

Waring's historic gas station and 
general store.

Old advertising signs on
the side of the general store.

The Waring Schoolhouse. The first
wing was built in 1891.

Waring Church.

That's it for the town, except for the homes and a post office. I don't know what the population is currently.

We followed the walk arrows and streamers out into the countryside. Birds were chirping, we had a slight breeze, and plenty of shade from the trees lining the road. Andy and I took a small detour to get photos of the Guadalupe River. The cypress trees lining the river make beautiful reflections.

Cypress trees along the Guadalupe River.

The Guadalupe River.

Andy coming off the bridge 
over the river.

From the road alongside the river, we turned off onto a road through farmland. We never did see Zoeller Creek (which the road is named for)!

Maybe a ruffed grouse? 

Wow! There were a lot of people
behind us!

We hadn't seen anyone for the first
mile of the walk or so and then, boom,
a whole slew of people!

Linda and Pat volunteer at
the first checkpoint.

The Texas Hill Country.

The cow grate has a sign that
says, "Whoa, Nelly!"

A chukar. (Thank you to Garry Speir
for the I.D.!)

Just a long, straight road to our
checkpoint.

The hay is all neatly rolled up.

Now we're back along the river.

The Guadalupe River.

Andy carefully crossed a cow grate.

This historic block home is getting a
large addition!

Country road.

More walkers coming toward us.

After the paved roads, we turned off into pastureland and walked on a grass road. It felt nice and soft under our feet.

Grass road.

The walk marker had a
pumpkin decoration on it.

This was a pretty feather.

Mullein (Verbascum thapsis).

Ellen Ott and Louise at the 
second checkpoint.

There's a lot of lamb and beef on 
the hoof here.

This cow has an interesting face. 

I love this big log home.

As we walked this morning, Andy and I kept hearing gunshots. When we arrived at the sign below, we realized what we had been hearing.

Like horses back to the barn, Andy and I didn't waste any time getting back to the fish fry, which was now open. We had a very good lunch and then headed home.

The Fish Fry put on by Waring's
Volunteer Fire Department.

I should mention that the line for the fish fry was a block long by the time we drove away. People come from far and wide for the VFD Fish Fry!

This was another really good walk put on by the Hill Country Volkssportverein club.