Walking with the Trekker
Arbor Creek Nature Preserve: Plano, Texas
October 30, 1999
By Darwin White
Seems like everything was conspiring to keep me from walking this weekend. First the weather turned and I woke to the sound of rain dripping from the eaves of my house. Then I was feeling the effects of way too much celebrating after watching my home Chico Dragons clinch their first ever district title with a 53-0 win over Bryson. Top that off with a sudden scarcity of walking companions, and maybe I should've just stayed in bed.
Well I never win arguments with myself, so I ended up on the road, sometime late in the morning, headed for Plano and the new park that the Plano Plodders would be using for a start point. It was a dreary morning, wet sullen skies and a steady drizzle, punctuated with a chilling breeze to give the morning an edge.
The first thing I noticed entering the park was a pair of pond-like areas near the parking lot. Signs stated that these were wastewater treatment basins, intended to catch the runoff from the parking lot and naturally filter the assorted goos and fluids our cars leave on a roadway. A great idea, not letting this mess run off into our waterways.
The Plodders were set up under a beautifully constructed white rock pavilion, most of them dressed for Halloween. I saw a witch, a spider and a cat, among other things. Unfortunately I had left my camera home because of the wet.
After obtaining a start card I was joined by Leroy Wright and hit the trail. Because of the rain, we did not get to walk the combination mountain bike/hiker trail on natural surfaces. Instead , we were directed to follow a wide concrete path that led off to the northeast and into a densely wooded area.
This path was to lead us in a wide loop around the preserve, if you could really call it a preserve. Little effort had been made to minimize impact to native flora or fauna. This was more a place just to have a park. Not that I didn't appreciate the beautiful rockwork done on the few bridges across a looping creekbed, or the amount of time and money it must have taken to make cuts through nearly solid rock hills that made the trail relatively flat.
It continued raining on us, as Leroy and I made our way around the loop to the first checkpoint, set up in another pavilion just a few steps short of the start/finish point. Their construction was really very nice, made up of blocks of limestone and a pretty, pale wood. We got our cards stamped and then headed back down the trail, repeating the loop backwards.
Heading back, we noted that the creekbed now had a great deal more water than it had on our first pass. Neither of us wanted the rain to stop. Presently we came to a point where signs directed us onto a branch of trail leading off towards a residential area and the second checkpoint.
Jan Wahrer was working this checkpoint. After getting stamped here, Leroy and I parted company, him heading back to the start and me on into the walk. It was all sidewalk and cookie cutter housing from here. There were a series of cul-de-sacs stretching westwards off a larger street and we did the in and back thing on each one.
It would have been easy to get lost here, one house looking pretty much the same as another, even with the good mix of styles and choices of brick or cut rock. I did enjoy looking at the landscaping and the different Halloween decorations. Lots of scarecrows, a few witches wrapped into trees or light poles. Decidedly the best was a yard full of spiders made of stuffed garbage bags and PVC pipe, some on the roof and in a tree or on the ground. There was also a web made of nylon rope.
There wasn't much activity out, few people to see, although I did get a couple of odd stares from a group of ladies who were being picked up by a Suburban, which was oddly paralleling my route. Probably wondering what kind of nut would be walking in this rain.
Once out of the cul-de-sacs, the route led southwards along Midway Road with a couple of short detours into the neighborhoods. I made pretty good time through here, with little to catch my attention and slow me down. By now my boots were soaked through and the sound of my wet socks squishing at each step seemed to echo too loudly.
I finished the walk without incident; cold, wet and a little footsore, yet glad for the change of pace. Thanks to the Plano Plodders and the workers who braved the wet and cold to present us with a pretty nice walk. Congratulations to the 70-odd folks with more gumption than brains who also did the walk.
Trail Happy,
Darwin L. White
The Dallas Trekkers Walking Club
"I want to learn the ways of Eyeveevee and become a volkssporter like my father." Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill) to Obi-wan Kenobi in 'Star Wars'(1977)
Area Walking and More Information
Texas Volkssport Association walking clubs and events
Upcoming walking events in Texas
Volksmarch and Walking Index Web page Events and clubs nationwide
More Walking With the Trekker and the Walrus:
Arbor Creek Nature Preserve, Plano, Texas Oct. 30, 1999
Caprock Canyons State Park, Texas Oct. 8-10, 1999.
Sister Grove Park, Princeton, Texas 9/25/99
Cooper Lake State Park Walk, Texas 9/16/99
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