Greensfelder County Park

Larry, Sharon, and I hiked out at Greensfelder County Park on June 27, 2009. We hiked sections of the Eagle Valley and Deer Run trails and the entirety of the DeClue trail for a total of 9.4 miles.

It was an interesting hike because the Eagle Valley trail has changed since the last time I hiked. The County has done a ton of work on it to allow bikers on the trail. I think I liked the trail before the work was done. Also, having cyclists barrelling down a hill with a bunch of switchbacks doesn't really appeal to me a whole lot. By opening the additional trails to cyclists means that there are going to be a lot of extra people on the trails. As readers of this blog know, I like my solitude when I'm hiking.

As we went from the Eagle Valley trail to the Deer Run trail, I spotted a two foot rattlesnake on the trail. It didn't seem to mind that we were there, but I minded that he was there. It didn't coil or rattle at all so we stood there and watched it for a couple of minutes before moving on.

Even though I haven't posted real regularly to this site, I walk on a daily basis averaging over 4 miles per day. My strength training is okay but I need to pump it up a little. My team has not hiked all together at all, which is disappointing. The most people I've had on a hike is 4 of the 6 team members.

The next hike is Hawn State Park which is a really nice hike.

Weldon Springs Conservation Area

On June 13, the team members that could make it hiked the Lewis Trail at Weldon Springs Conservation Area. The mosquitos were incredibly bad. The four of us plowed through them and completed the 8.2 mile hike in just under 3 hours.

Since I forgot my camera at home, no pictures are posted for this hike.

West Tyson County Park

On June 6, the hike team (or remnants of it), hiked the Chubb and Flint Quarry Trails at West Tyson County Park. The hike was cut short at the picnic table when everyone but me decided not to go down the hill to the river, but instead opted to head back to the parking lot. My hike was 6.2 miles and their's was 4.2 miles.

Pictures are posted on my Flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8905882@N08/sets/72157619315047857/

Also included in those pictures is the track from my GPS.

God bless Mike

My brother-in-law was diagnosed with Periferal T-Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma last September. Yesterday, June 2, 2009, he lost the battle against the cancer and now is in the hands of God.

Mike was a very good man. He was a loving husband and father of 4. He was a great son and son-in-law. He was a fantastic brother and brother-in-law.

My mission with Team In Training and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has taken on a very new and strong meaning. As I train for this and future hikes, Mike will be with me on all of them as I'll carry him in my thoughts and memories on the trail. He will always be on my backpack as well in the form of a ribbon and picture.

We will miss you Mike.

Labarque Creek Conservation Area

On Sunday, the hike team hiked the Labarque Creek Conservation Area's trail. It was a beautiful day and very comfortable in the shade but a little warm in the sun. The round trip hike was about 4 miles and we lost the trail a few times since I'd never been on this trail before.

After the team left, I hiked the trail again and this time searched for the 3 geocaches in the area.

I have been walking several miles daily and have been sporadic in my strength training but will pick up that pace this week.

Tuesday evening we are at the stairs in Creve Coeur Park again and on Wednesday I will lead an alternate hike day hike at West Tyson County Park.

Pictures from the hike on Sunday are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8905882@N08/sets/72157619020484283/

The conservation area site is at: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=200608&txtAreaNm=&txtCounty=&txtRegion=St.%20Louis&txtUserID=guest&txtDivision

May 16, 2009

We had our first group hike today at Queeny Park in Manchester. MO.

It was an overcast, dreary morning that threatened rain most of the time we were on the trail. We hiked the 4.4 mile Hawk Ridge trail which is a trail that follows the perimeter of the park.

There were 4 people on the hike. My three team members and I walked the trail in just over an hour.

The next hike is on June 6th at West Tyson County Park. We'll also start the stair training at Creve Coeur Park on Tuesday this week.

May 11, 2009

I need to be a little more diligent in my updates to this site.

My total for the year so far is 559.5 miles through yesterday. I got in 12.5 miles over the weekend with one hike and several dog walks.

Strength training is going pretty well although I tend to put it off. I'll get more into it soon, I promise.

Weekend hike is a Queeny Park hike on the Hawk Ridge trail. I hope to have some alumni out there for this one and hopefully will get some more people signed up for the team. We'll see.

April 21, 2009

Another information meeting is tonight. I've contacted a few people about the hike event. Hopefully, a few more people will become interested over the next couple of weeks and sign up for the team. I've raised $300 in funds so far. Not too good considering I've raised almost $10,000 in the past two years. I guess it could be worse.

I've walked/hiked 478 miles so far this year. I'm planning to hit close to 1,600 miles this year.

More to come....