Memorial Day

I am aching today.  It was Memorial Day weekend, and after a couple of days of not feeling very well and not doing very much I decided I’d better make the most of a rare bank holiday and go out and do something yesterday.  So I went out for a hike.  I did a part of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail through Iron Horse State Park, with an extension to Twin Falls.  That probably sounds a lot more impressive than it really was!  However, the John Wayne Pioneer Trail is a big one – it follows the old Pacific Railroad that goes all the way to Chicago.  Because it’s an old railroad, at least that means the trail is relatively flat – although it was quite a descent to get down to Twin Falls (with subsequent ascent).  My guidebook said that this was a 7 mile round trip to Twin Falls – a reasonable distance after a couple of days of inactivity.  However, the trail head at the start of the hike said it was a 9 mile round trip – but that wasn’t enough to put me off, so I did the hike.  Considering how tired I was by the end of it, I think it was closer to 9 miles than 7 miles – so if anything at least I got some good exercise!  I wouldn’t call this a particularly picturesque hike – just some peek-a-boo views of the Cascades mountain rage, some remnants of the old rail line plus the falls at the turn around point.  

But I was glad I had got there at 7.30am when the parking lot was almost empty, because by the time I got back at 11.30 the parking lot was full and there was a ton of cars parked (illegally?) on the sides of the road leading up to the trail head.  And naturally, encountered many more people on the return trip back to the car.  I’m glad I’ve started doing these hikes early rather than late – it means I can actually enjoy and appreciate the surroundings without being disturbed by the riff raff.