Monday, April 12, 2010

Trail of Gold

Also known more commonly as the Yellow Trail, this is my absolute favorite trail in Memphis. Having run most of my trail miles on this one, I have lots of memories. I trained for my first marathon and at least a couple of Ironmans on it -- many miles. It wanders along on the north side of the Wolf River for just about exactly 4 miles one way, depending on where exactly you start. The trail consumes 2-3 feet of width along its whole length, and it's nice hard-packed dirt with some sand and the occasional root. When I was running there frequently, my feet seemed to know these roots and glide smoothly over them. I distinctly remember one web of roots that created a perfect arrow pointing toward the river at about the one mile mark, but today I couldn't find it.




One of the first memories on the trail was from high school. I was on my way to my first run with mileage in the double digits, and my running buddies were my sister and boyfriend-at-the-time. I was lucky enough to witness Jenny and her epic tripping over a root. She sailed through the air like superman. I'll never forget that sight. I wish somehow I could paint a picture of it... wait, hold on...

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Now you can see why I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard.

I've run on the Yellow Trail in rain that was so hard it created a flowing river (but drained quickly when the rain stopped), and in snow deep enough to see some animal tracks that I swore were the infamous Big Cat that was rumored to live in the area. One summer it was unusual if I didn't see at least one copperhead on every run on that trail. I was with a group when one was stung by a scorpion, but I never witnessed a snake bite.

While obsessively looking for snakes underfoot one summer day, I failed to look at where my head was going and ran smack into a tree that had fallen over and caught in others, placing its branch at perfect scalp height for me. It was so perfect that the stitches came just to my hairline and created a tiny new part on the other side of my head. I had to run 2 miles back to the car with my bloody, now-red, formerly white tank top bandage.

On an early morning run, probably on a weekday, I realized that being the first runner of the day meant one thing: spiderwebs. I grabbed a large stick and ran along waving it in front of my face, as if casting some voodoo spell on the trees ahead. Suddenly around a blind curve came a guy holding and waving his own large stick. We must have both had looks of surprise and complete embarrassment on our faces realizing how ridiculous we looked, until we saw each other. I've also been caught in hysterical laughter while running by myself, listening to a podcast. At least they heard me coming.

Beginning a run with the cross country team just a few minutes too late one evening had us running back at dusk. Which quickly turned to dark. I jinxed a teammate by wondering aloud how we'd all managed to stay upright so far. I was answered with a thud right behind me. A few minutes later a ghostly white apparition appeared and I screamed. I probably scared coach more than he scared me.

The most horrible sight I've seen on the trail was today. I had hear of the massacre on Charlie's blog, but didn't realize the vastness of the destruction until I came upon this:



I haven't read up on the plans for this, but I see they're *keeping the outdoor enthusiast in mind (zoom in on the posters below).*


The asterisks, by the way, signify"sarcasm font," in case you were wondering. I was definitely sad to see this happening, and I'm afriad it's going to be a major thoroughfare when they're through with it. Send me the petition and I'll be the first to sign it!

I hope for all trail runners and mountain bikers (who help keep the snakes and spiderwebs away), as well as for myself, that someone will realize that this little trail in the middle of the busy city is such an oasis for so many of us.

During wedding week, I plan to go back a couple more times to visit.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post Joy. I saw it for the first time yesterday too. SOOOO shocking!

    It sucks. Tom and Brad Holiday agree that was the only way to describe it!

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  2. I like the post, but not the ending.

    I love the way the bridge in the photo has old growth forrest crowding the edge of the bridge so that people using the bridge can really experience nature. This clearing will grow back to its current state in, say, 100 years or so. I can't wait to run it then!

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  3. What a great post....like CBD said...but not the ending. I absolutely love the yellow trail - early morning spider webs and all. I haven't seen what they have done yet, but I know many who have and are saddened by it. I can't believe that they just clear cut like that.

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  4. OMG, they are taking one of the only nature areas in Memphis and making it look like a mini golf park. Pass me that petition.

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  5. You need to go back and read about the trail head.

    after I read charlies comments I asked Greg maxted about it.
    He actually went to the opening ceremoies. He actually talked to the contractor who is a mountain bike and trail enthusiast as well. This is just temp construction to get the earth moving equipment in there to build the bridge which will connect trails on other side with shelby farms and eventually greenway. Hes left sand and gravel which others are using to help improve the trails..
    So go back to the midsouth trails forum and read on and you will find that this one photo does NOT tell the whole story and was more someone trying to make a stink without knowing all the facts.

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  6. Yeah Gbob, but if you actually read the trails forum you will see that even the contractor who is building the bridge (the mountain biker) said they cleared more land than he needed to get the bridge in. THAT'S the unfortunate part.

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