Hike Info:
Type: Hiking
Trail: Chinese Creek Park Nature Trail
Destination: Loop
Start Time: 12:24
End Time: 2:03
Travel Time: 1:39 (1.23 mph)
Moving Time: 1:29 (1.37 mph)
Elevation Rise: 139'
Descent: 59‘
Maximum Elevation: 354'
Description:
For this is the secret of
successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may
be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense,
is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while
sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea. But I prefer the
first, which, indeed, is the most probable derivation. For every walk
is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go
forth and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels.
From Walking
by Henry David Thoreau
Sometimes you can on a walk to
get someplace. Sometimes it is to push yourself. But then sometimes
you walk just to wander. That is our time on this episode. It is a
trail which lends itself to going nowhere fast and we fastly got
nowhere. But it was pleasant. Cool, but no rain. It is good to walk
with your family
The talk this morning was to
go to Woodward Park and do a walk. I suggested a place I had not been
before, close to Centerville called China
Creek Park-I
got the name wrong, oh well-I thought it was Chinese Creek Park. This
is a county park and I happened to come across it while looking for
something else-isn’t that how the most interesting things get
found.
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| A Bit Bigger Idea of the Location |
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| Gary, Andrea and Steven by the enterance gate |
So we took off around noon to
go there, about 25 minutes away. That gets us to Smith Road in
Centerville, where we head south for about a third of a mile. We come
to a gate, which is the boundary to the park. There is one other car
parked-not room for a whole bunch of people. We get out of the
car-there is little to prepare-and are off.
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| View at the start |
This area is flat. You start
down the rest of Smith Road. There are signs marking various nature
areas, after all this is a guided nature trail. In the part of the
trail which is paved, there is five markers. Cows are behind a barbed
wire fence to the east of us. Grasslands area around us with sprouting of massive oak trees, some older than 200 years.
 |
| Silhouette Against Dark Clouds |
At the end of the road is a
sign saying Long Trail which seems to indicate to us to take a left.
The Short Trail just heads back to the car-about a half mile total
with six guide markers. We take the left and read the fifth marker,
continuing on past it. We pass by a pond and follow a creek a ways
east, passing under oaks and sycamore trees. That is until we came to
a gate, baring us from going forwards anymore. Oh Oh. Checking the
map, Steven decides that the sign saying Long Trail probably was
pointing beyond where we turned. So we walk back the same way we
came.
 |
| Interesting coloring |
Andrea and I start talking
about the County elections this coming Tuesday. She is upset by my
terminology, but interested in my rational about why I am not happy
with the lone possible person I may be in sync with. Later on Andrea
reads the campaign flyers I got and understands why I am not happy.
 |
| The Wow Moment |
Now we get to the Long Trail.
This starts off by following the South Pond, but then goes to an area
interspersed with grasses, shrubs and trees. We pass one sign which
points out an elderberry plant. Then come to another talking about
sycamore trees. An oak standing majestically against the cloudy skies
catches our attention, and our cameras.
 |
| North Pond Reflections |
We meet up with a little loop
called the Woodland loop. There does seem to be more trees on this
little quarter mile path. The big bonus is a patch of white blossomed
peach trees. Real nicely offset by the natural reds and browns of the
rest of the area. The trail loops back to the beginning. This is by
North Pond. We go around the pond. There is tall marsh grasses
growing on the side of the pond where ducks and frogs are hiding. We
also meet up with a large white fungi growing in the middle of our
path. (Sort of the fun guy meeting the fungi thing. Andrea said
something like this first.) This path ends as we have gone about ⅞
of the way around the pond. So we backtrack to the original trail.
The trail leads us on the
south side of North Pond and eventually gets us back to the car. A
lot more cars have lined up behind us. We hop into the car and return
back to our house. Not a bad little stroll on a Winter’s day. In a
Summer afternoon, it would feel different.
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| Gary walking the path |
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| Gary enjoying himself |
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| Andrea and Steven at the end of the line |
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| Sky in turmoil |
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| Downed Tree |
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| Valley Oak |
Animals
Flowers and Plants
