The Trail Continues

If the wooded area near here was bigger, more remote, it would be quiet there. When I’m out on the trails, I can hear dogs just a quarter-mile away, trucks a half-mile away, the occasional unmuffled motorcycle, and kids yelling. Still, it’s not too bad down in the woods itself. The only sound really near me is my own noise cutting limbs and chopping up scrub on the ground.

I’m in the third section. I’ve come to an ancient fence, which once separated two properties joined some years back by the developers. It runs only in the wooded section where I’m cutting the trail. I’ll have to cut it to keep going, but I’m going to make sure the gap is rather narrow, to prevent motorized vehicles. I’m now not too far from one of their trails. This particular section of woods is not at all square, nor even rectangular. It’s wider across the southern end, but a plowed section comes around the north end and extends down the western side. I’m going to veer right on crossing the fence to avoid that open area.

That means I’ll have at least another 100 meters to go before hitting an open area where the developers cut down into the red sandstone hill side. That will mean the entire loop is half done. I’m already seeing evidence others are using the trail a great deal. In particular I’m seeing lots of deer tracks. They seem to appreciate the easy passage on their normal forage route. They feed in a string of wooded areas all around here. There’s evidence they sleep in some of the open areas screened by heavy thorn patches, where the four-wheelers won’t go. They grow tall, thick and dark-colored, so you can’t see through a mere six feet (2m) of such growth. The individual stalks can easily be thick as any man’s fingers. When I come to the one patch I have to cross, it will be the hardest work I’ve done since starting this project.