Monday, April 1st - NOT lost in Forest Park!!!

Today we tackled the last Forest Park walk in our books, something we weren't looking forward to a whole lot, considering that our last two trips there could NOT be considered a huge success since we got lost and had to ask directions on both of them. This turned out to be a great way to finish out Forest Park – the directions in the 'Easy Day Hikes' book for both driving there and walking the trails were clear and accurate, and all of the trails were correctly marked. It probably helped that we were basically walking a big loop, from Leif Erickson Drive, up the Wild Cherry Trail, right on the Wildwood Trail, right on the Alder Trail and another right back onto Leif Erickson. I don't think even we could have gotten lost.

It started out, unsurprisingly, with an uphill climb. I'm not sure if we're actually in better shape now or if we've just accepted that complaining does nothing but use up much-needed air, but I no longer feel like I'm dying on these long uphill climbs. Mostly. We came down the Wild Cherry trail when we got lost back in January and I don't remember it being that long or that steep – amazing what the relief of no longer being lost does to your perception. Once we made it to the top and turned onto the Wildwood Trail it leveled out and was a really pleasant walk. The trilliums are blooming and the woods are full of birds, and it was warm enough that we only wore light jackets and were perfectly comfortable.

We kept up a brisk pace to the Alder Trail and headed downhill. It seemed pretty short and not very steep, but I'm sure it seems steeper and longer going the other direction. Leif Erickson is a nice wide easily recognized road and by that point we knew we had finally made a Forest Park walk without getting lost! Katje even said she might come back and walk Wildwood again, and she had pretty much written Forest Park off entirely. We'd just have to plan carefully and make sure we knew exactly where we were going beforehand. Or we could wing it, ask joggers for directions and see where we came out...or not.