Lost Valley Fire Road Trail and New Section, March 10, 2014

 First official day of Spring Break 2014 was 80 degrees after one of the longest and coldest winters in St. Louis that I've ever experienced.  The previous Monday was our eighth snow day of the season--with wind chills around -20. So this 80 degree day had all of our hearts thawing. . . .I took Pat and Lynnie up the hill to the Muschany Cemetery. Hadn't been up there in a couple of years, since the geocaching field trip two years ago April when Kelly Barban and I took some Creative Writers on this trail. Some time during the last two years, the well-tended barbed wire fence around the cemetery has been torn down so that one can walk inside and inspect the tombstones. Before, you could only closely inspect the stone of the baby Catherine, aged three, that faces in a direction that has protected it from erosion.

 Juneau was hilarious on this day--darting everywhere--with Lynnie fussing over her and giving her water. When she got back to Pat and Lynnie's, she was dogged tired, but up for more adventures the next day.

 A very "True Detective" Scene on the trail. Lynnie pointed out that the reflection would make a cool, if melancholy picture.

It got very hot--and in spite of my hat and sunscreen, my face burned, which has me worried like it never used to. Still, we hiked three hours and I was pleased to find that even after my sick and inactive winter, I was able to make it without being very sore the next day.

Indian Camp Creek Park, February, 2014

Lynnie, Pat, Juneau and I returned to Indian Camp Creek Park in February, on a semi-warm afternoon during a particularly cold winter in St. Louis. I truly can't remember a winter this cold, one that made me feel old, immobile and powerless.  This particular day went from sunny to overcast. We'd all been at Susan's, Lynnie's sister's, watching Paul paint, playing with Zen baby Henry and eating Bread Co.. That afternoon, sans Paul, we went for a short hike at Indian Camp Creek--Juneau on the long leash I bought her last summer at Walmart in Troy.  Pat and I were slow; nursing various maladies that I won't outline on this blog in case I ever decide to make it public again.This was a turning point for me, however, because from this day until March 14 (today), I have felt almost normal again and have been able to walk and to hike.

We all went to Llewellyn's in Winghaven afterwards--drank some beers and talked.

Indian Camp Creek Park, Tuesday before Thanksgiving, 2013

Alas, I have no photos from this hike with Lynnie, my sister-in-law. We had good conversations about Mom--and reminisces. And Juneau hiked with us. I took pictures to emailed to me from my i-phone, but that night--or rather--early in the morning, Wednesday, three men broke into our house and stole my i-phone. I saw them as they walked down the hall past my bedroom, on their way out of the back kitchen window.

St. Francois Park, Mooner's Hollow Trail October or November 2013

 Paul and I hiked this trail (Mooner's Hollow) circa Halloween. The weather was warm, but the leaves had changed color-- as you can see from the pics, the woods really were the proverbial cathedral of color extolled by nature writers. There was sunshine and then overcast sky, which contrasted the vivid colors.  Mooner's Hollow is a three mile trail, just the right amount for us after a year of--at times--sedentary despair. I fondly remember hiking it on Mothers' Day in 2000--and then meeting my parents for beers and dinner at the Tap Room downtown. Now I'm at the age--really, that was thirteen years ago--and the unthinkable has happened, with more unthinkable threatening on the horizon. . . .

In any case, Mooner's Hollow is a lovely walk, not strenuous, and scenic even though there really aren't any vistas. After hiking, Paul and I ate lunch in Hillsboro at an Italian Restaurant that we found on yelp. The name presently escapes me, but I recall enjoying the lunch, the company, a glass of red wine and pasta.

 It seems like every time I hike St. Francois Park, the sky feels low at some point, and I get the opportunity to take an eerie, almost ghostly picture that calls to mind the Moonshiners and Civil War soldiers that frequented these woods at different points in history.

A little pic of Paul in the corner next to a rock outcropping!