Grant's Trail

I wanted to try a new trail today.  In one week, I start on my Katy trail trip.  I wanted to continue training, preparing for the trip, but I didn't want to get bored with the Katy before I even started.  So I hunted up Grant's trail.  They don't exactly make it easy.  I have no idea if that's intentional or not.  On line there are maps and pictures and enthusiastic comments.  There are lists of parking lots and warnings of where not to park.  What there aren't, are directions to those authorized parking lots.  They vaguely suggest north of the highway, south of the highway, and show friendly little balloons at intersections on a miniature map.  My efforts to expand the map so I could see where everything really was had no effect.

In the end, all I could do was plug the unknown cross streets into the GPS and hope for the best.  Initially, the drive made perfect sense.  It lead me past the bike shop I knew frequently hosted rides there, and toward the highway I expected.  Then it took an odd side street turn, then another.  I quickly lost what limited sense of direction I had and began to wonder what would happen when the directions ran out.  I wasn't really sure the trailhead would be at that intersection, just that it seemed to be near it.  Would I recognize it when I got there?  Or would I be wandering lost in an unknown neighborhood looking for something I didn't know how to identify? 

Yet, to my complete surprise, just as the GPS cheerfully announced my destination, a beautiful, clearly labeled trailhead materialized just ahead of me.  There was plenty of parking, a clean, sturdy outhouse, and informative signs.  Not sure I'd ever be able to find it again, I bookmarked it and got out to explore.

The trail was beautiful.  It's a wide paved path lined by trees and farmland, winding alternately through busy city streets and quiet residential parks and yards.  Initially, though, there were lots of crosswalks, lots of waiting for traffic lights and passing cars.  It was a little frustrating, and I felt at the time that I probably wouldn't be interested in doing the trail again, just because I'm so used to the continuous flow of the Katy trail.  It wasn't long though, before I was into the more rural sections and relaxed into the eight mile ride to the end.  On the way back, at about the fourteenth or fifteenth mile, I hit the city section again.  This time, though, the crosswalks seemed fewer and felt much more like a welcome break than an annoyance.  It was sixteen miles of honeysuckle, horses, and hidden off-shoot trails to explore on another day.  

I'm really glad I bookmarked that route.