Saturday Morning Walk along the Rowlett Creek Trail @ Bolin Park

A little dandelion illuminated by the bright morning sun. It was as if it glowed with happiness and peace, much as I was feeling this morning. 

Today Toby and I headed out rather early for a morning walk exploring some new-to-us trails, the Rowlett Creek Trail. I noticed back late last fall or winter some neat looking trails along McDermott in Allen. Yesterday when we were discussing where to go this morning, I remembered them and looked at Google Maps to see how we'd access them. It made the most sense to do so at Bolin Park. 

This was a very nice park with great, clean restrooms. (Not an unimportant detail, actually.) The lawns were well-manicured as you'd expect in a park near neighborhoods this nice. And, they were quite nice! The trails themselves border a golf course and it can, at times, be a little confusing where you are supposed to go and not wander onto the golf course, so keep your phone handy. There are some signs, but it's not always super clear. 

And, be warned: a bridge washed out apparently in the flooding we had this spring and that branch of the trail ends abruptly. 

The arrow is roughly where the bridge washed out. We had to double back a bit and hit the sidewalk along McDermott, then access the trail on the other side.

We had to double back and find our way to the other side of that bridge by going around the trail. It's not hard, it was just unexpected. The debris from all the flooding is still everywhere. It was a reminder of the amount of rain we had all last year and into this spring - more than this area is equipped to deal with. The breadth of the erosion was quite striking and unfortunate. 

Everyone on the trail was friendly. I mean, very, very friendly. I've never had everyone make eye contact and give an enthusiastic good morning as consistently as these did. It was not overcrowded, but it was a used trail, which I always think is a great sign. We shared it with the golfers, walkers, bikers, lizards, and even a little snake. 

It was very humid morning, but not hot. It seems a contradiction, but it's not. You were sweating profusely, but were not really that hot. It's good to sweat like that and get the toxins out! When we got home, we found that we were not tired, but invigorated - quite unlike it would have been had it been both hot and humid. We had some sun, but were in shaded areas most of the time and there was a nice breeze when it was not blocked by the trees. 

Toby is still practicing with the new camera I got him for Father's Day that has really great zoom capabilities, among others. He's gearing up for our trip to California next weekend and then the trip out West with our sweet family shortly thereafter. I'll come back and link to his Flickr/blog post when he's finished with the post-processing. (I've now done that, but decided against changing the tense, etc., of what I've previously written.) In the interim, here are my pics of him taking pics and a few of my own.

I noticed some very interesting mushrooms growing on this dead tree. Toby was able to get some really detailed shots where you can see not only the mushroom, but an ant and spider web, too! 

Dead trees always interest me.

Here's my own zoomed in shot to show you what they looked like. They were like bells.

The other side of the tree offered even more ways to view these mushrooms.

I like the way light shines through trees at various times of day. 

One of several lakes you'll see in addition to the creek. On the other side of this is a flock of Canadian geese that Toby is getting great shots of.

My own zoomed in shot of the geese. I love Canadian geese. It's ironic because I was just reading about them last night in a book by John Muir which I'll be posting about soon.

The trails zig zag alone the creek so you'll have the opportunity to cross a number of bridges. I love bridges as well. Here's Toby's shot of the bridge.

My own shot of the bridge.

Another view of a bridge that survived the flooding. 

After you cross that bridge, you come to a meadow which also serves as a practice golf area for junior golfers. 

Another shot of the sun through the trees while photographing Toby taking photographs of the meadow.

I'm not sure if you can see it, but here Toby is zooming in on a lizard that crossed our path. He got some great shots of it.

Firewheels! We are always on the look out for them. They were past their prime, but still there. Judging by the number of "seed pods" (or whatever they're called) from the really spent flowers, there was a bumper crop here. We've made a note to come back next year during their peak and see what we can see. *I've literally made a note in my Hiking Journal.

A closer up of the Firewheels.

Toby taking a picture of this area of the trail - it was not the meadow, but more of a field left overgrown. I like the contrast and variety of landscapes along this trail.

This was a great walk. There are geocaches along it, which we didn't bother getting yet. Most were in areas that might pose a danger to me right now with my severe allergy to poison oak & ivy. With our trip looming, we decided not to risk it, but we'll be back for that as well. We hardly walked the entirety of what is there. This will warrant many trips in the future. I'm looking forward to it! 

*Here is the Hiking Journal I use - inconsistently - but it has a neat, simple set up that I like and I can make reminders there for what we'd like to see in other seasons, etc. Toby gave it to me. It came in a Geocaching pack he got one time. 

We came home and made a hardy breakfast. After blogging and working a bit, we'll get ready and head to Confession and Vigil this afternoon in preparation for Divine Liturgy tomorrow. ❤️☦

I'm planning on a simple supper of Orange Roughy, roasted vegetables, and salad. I'll need to work tonight, but today is a day of balance. I'm grateful for that. It's a great day! I hope you're having one, too. 

Thanks for reading!