Beautiful Sunday

Another picture perfect weekend; another chance for Papa and I to enjoy being outside and active.  This weekend's bike ride was about 21 miles. (Total activity for the week: biked about 55 miles and walked about 10 miles.)

This weekend we opted to visit the Greenbelt Trail along Hayden Road in Scottsdale. Our fondest memory of this trail was riding a section of it several years ago with our daughter and her family when our grandson was probably three-years-old. It was fun reminiscing about that ride as we pedaled along.

The start to this week's adventure was Tempe Town Lake (a popular area for activity) where we parked the car, unloaded the bikes and rode to the Tempe Transportation Center.  At the Center, we loaded our bikes on the bus (Scottsdale/Rural - 72 North) to what we thought was the northern most point of the Greenbelt Trail.  More on that later.  We got off the bus about 12 miles later at the Shea stop and biked east along Shea Blvd. about three miles, passed the 101, to the trail.

Immediately after coasting down a wide sidewalk to the trail with the dashed dividing line, a mini-roadway, we noticed activity.  Walk, roller blade, bike, run...all modes of activity populated the trail. At times we had some distance between us and others on the trail as  pictured to the right. Other times we slowed to almost a stop on our bikes as the "traffic" on the two-lane activity highway was congested enough we didn't have room to pass.

It didn't take long to understand why the highway markings on the trail where useful for everyone in helping manage the traffic. Leisurely walkers to the avid cyclists enjoy this beautiful, peaceful oasis. By staying on the right side of the trail, though, those wishing to go faster can pass without frustration spoiling either your or their experience.

Along this active trail is a mixture of residential and retail, parks, playgrounds, water, golf, Frisbee golf, and gently rolling hills. In some places the trail briefly follows streets and requires crossing at stoplights. Most of the distance, however, the trail is isolated from the urban scene providing a peaceful, relaxed, undisturbed pathway oblivious to the  traffic above the tunnel or under the bridge you just crossed.

The trail winds around several lakes, yes lakes in the desert. The lakes have their own activities with people fishing, ducks/geese swimming, remote boats, and fountains as just a few of the activities we noticed. Picnics and gatherings filled tables and pavilions along the trail.

The trail continues to the south and connects with the trail along Tempe Town Lake that we enjoyed about a month ago.  We rode the reverse of that trail today, ending back at our car.

The weather is getting warmer and the time getting closer to the Grand Canyon R2R hike, so we won't have many opportunities to get back to the Greenbelt soon. We will be concentrating on hiking for the next few weeks. We have it on our calendar for this fall, though, to bike from home to the northern part of this trail and return.  As I mentioned earlier, when we got onto the trail at Shea and 91st Street, we looked to the north and saw the trail continues. Not sure how far it goes, but maybe this fall we'll learn for ourselves. We anticipate it could be a 60 mile or more bike ride and we're looking forward to it!

We have lived in the Valley over seven years now. When we moved here, I made a promise to myself never to loose the awe I felt when looking up and seeing the beauty of the palm trees against the the blue sky with wispy white clouds.  The picture to the right is just such a sight noticed when we stopped beside a lake along the trail for a water break.  I looked up and still felt the awe of such beauty. We are blessed to live here, to be active and to love life.

Next week is Pat's Run on Saturday and hopefully more adventure after the run/walk as we continue to enjoy a beautiful spring and being active together.