Just wonderful my friend. We’ve been in Albuquerque for 10 days, walking about 10 miles a day and it feels great. There’s this trail system down through the Bosque along the Rio Grande and through the ancient Acequias that line the valley.
Thanks Tom, I appreciate it! That's awesome though, sounds perfect. I haven't spent any time down there but I bet it's beautiful - did you bring the Nikon??
What amazes me is how the towns on the shoreline actually fit into the landscape, topography of the environment instead of forcing the other way around. I would hazard a guess that this isn’t always the case, but it is nice to know it does happen copacetically.
Beautiful photos! Sorry to hear that you couldn't accomplish all the walking you meant to, but that's just traveling isn't it? It teaches us what we can't control.
What an amazing adventure, a truly unique and wonderful way to travel! Really enjoyed reading part 1 and 2! You said it best, “For five days, I knew nothing but the ground in front of me and the company around me.” I love that!! You’re right, living can be simple and that’s beautiful! Also, STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHY!! Wow!! Fucking beautiful!! 😉
Some communities you might want to explore, that have expansive public paths: Tucson, Methow Valley and the northern Olympic Peninsula.
I rode 600 miles this month on Tucson's trail network, training for a Century ride, and still did not cover all the paths. These are multiuse, paved trails, but there are dirt and gravel paths as well. The scenery is beautiful, ranging from desert natural, to horse properties, to Moutain vistas, to urban environments.
The Methow Valley trail system connects Winthrop to its neighboring communites. A year-round wonder, try Nordic skiiing in the winter, mountain biking or hiking the other seasons. Spectacular North Central Washington is a special place.
The Olympic Discovery Trail connects Port Townsend to Sequim and Port Angeles, and probably extends out to the Coast. Another awesome corner of our state.
Anyway, not all travel has to involve nightmarish airplane itineraries! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Hugh! Great ideas and thanks for sending these along. I definitely agree, not all travel requires a flight or another country, especially when you live in a beautiful state like we do.
Yeah the amount of them is truly staggering. Even at a national trail level they have so many paths for walkers to take, I'm pretty eager to go back and try a different one.
Thank you for this. My family recently moved away from a place where we had easy access to mountain trails and beautiful parks to the low country of South Carolina. Where we've landed has its natural beauty, for sure, yet I find myself living vicariously through stories and photography such as this to find my peace. Thank you. Please keep posting.
Did you see much litter on the trails? Here, we've had some traditional trails across private property get shut down by the property owners because of trash, and some other rude behaviors, by hikers. It's a shame, but I kind of side with the private property owners.
It's the public trails too unfortunately. I've been hiking here for decades and never use to see garbage. Now, I sometimes carry a small litter bag with me to pick up litter.
not at all actually, everything was pretty clean! That's a shame to hear though, and I totally agree if the trail is getting trashed or folks are being disrespectful. why do you think there's been an increase?
I think it’s a combination of things. Dramatically increased trail usage. And people have become so disconnected from nature that when they’re in it they don’t appreciate it or respect it. And a general fuck it attitude that has gotten much worse over the last decade in general.
Some of our trails are multi use and off road vehicles are allowed, and these days they just want to ‘tear shit up’ and party. The off road community use to heavily frown on that behavior, and it was rare, now it’s the norm. It is what it is unfortunately.
Damn, that's disheartening to hear. It's actually a fascinating conversation though, what happened between the older and younger generations to make people disrespect and take those kinds of trails/footpaths for granted. Because they seriously are very special and worth protecting at all costs.
Just wonderful my friend. We’ve been in Albuquerque for 10 days, walking about 10 miles a day and it feels great. There’s this trail system down through the Bosque along the Rio Grande and through the ancient Acequias that line the valley.
Thanks Tom, I appreciate it! That's awesome though, sounds perfect. I haven't spent any time down there but I bet it's beautiful - did you bring the Nikon??
What amazes me is how the towns on the shoreline actually fit into the landscape, topography of the environment instead of forcing the other way around. I would hazard a guess that this isn’t always the case, but it is nice to know it does happen copacetically.
Oh totally, those little towns just fit right in and didn’t feel out of place even. And no big resorts or anything either.
Beautiful photos! Sorry to hear that you couldn't accomplish all the walking you meant to, but that's just traveling isn't it? It teaches us what we can't control.
What an amazing adventure, a truly unique and wonderful way to travel! Really enjoyed reading part 1 and 2! You said it best, “For five days, I knew nothing but the ground in front of me and the company around me.” I love that!! You’re right, living can be simple and that’s beautiful! Also, STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHY!! Wow!! Fucking beautiful!! 😉
Thank you! Hahaha that’s the best fucking compliment! 😂
Great writing, Skylar!
Some communities you might want to explore, that have expansive public paths: Tucson, Methow Valley and the northern Olympic Peninsula.
I rode 600 miles this month on Tucson's trail network, training for a Century ride, and still did not cover all the paths. These are multiuse, paved trails, but there are dirt and gravel paths as well. The scenery is beautiful, ranging from desert natural, to horse properties, to Moutain vistas, to urban environments.
The Methow Valley trail system connects Winthrop to its neighboring communites. A year-round wonder, try Nordic skiiing in the winter, mountain biking or hiking the other seasons. Spectacular North Central Washington is a special place.
The Olympic Discovery Trail connects Port Townsend to Sequim and Port Angeles, and probably extends out to the Coast. Another awesome corner of our state.
Anyway, not all travel has to involve nightmarish airplane itineraries! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Hugh! Great ideas and thanks for sending these along. I definitely agree, not all travel requires a flight or another country, especially when you live in a beautiful state like we do.
Looks like fun and really neat to hear about the public trails available.
Yeah the amount of them is truly staggering. Even at a national trail level they have so many paths for walkers to take, I'm pretty eager to go back and try a different one.
Thank you for this. My family recently moved away from a place where we had easy access to mountain trails and beautiful parks to the low country of South Carolina. Where we've landed has its natural beauty, for sure, yet I find myself living vicariously through stories and photography such as this to find my peace. Thank you. Please keep posting.
Thanks for reading and enjoying Glenn, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!
Did you see much litter on the trails? Here, we've had some traditional trails across private property get shut down by the property owners because of trash, and some other rude behaviors, by hikers. It's a shame, but I kind of side with the private property owners.
It's the public trails too unfortunately. I've been hiking here for decades and never use to see garbage. Now, I sometimes carry a small litter bag with me to pick up litter.
Great stuff, keep it up!
not at all actually, everything was pretty clean! That's a shame to hear though, and I totally agree if the trail is getting trashed or folks are being disrespectful. why do you think there's been an increase?
I think it’s a combination of things. Dramatically increased trail usage. And people have become so disconnected from nature that when they’re in it they don’t appreciate it or respect it. And a general fuck it attitude that has gotten much worse over the last decade in general.
Some of our trails are multi use and off road vehicles are allowed, and these days they just want to ‘tear shit up’ and party. The off road community use to heavily frown on that behavior, and it was rare, now it’s the norm. It is what it is unfortunately.
Damn, that's disheartening to hear. It's actually a fascinating conversation though, what happened between the older and younger generations to make people disrespect and take those kinds of trails/footpaths for granted. Because they seriously are very special and worth protecting at all costs.