Last weekend was a hiking weekend with Heather and I heading to Henry Coe State Park to see the spring wild flowers. Well, me, Heather, a thousand bike riders, and every wild flower lover in the county. The road into the park is a narrow winding road which isn’t the most fun to drive at the best of times. However on Saturday there was a bike event so the drive was extra annoying with all the bikes and a few riders who didn’t grasp the concept of “share the road” or the fact that 4,000 pounds of car doesn’t stop that fast (even at 10 MPH).
When we arrived at the park entrance we were greeted by a nice ranger who informed us that the parking lots were full, but we could park outside the park and walk in (and avoid the day use fee). He told us to park by the “cattle grate.” The cattle grate is a quarter-mile from the entrance and the entrance is half a mile from the trail head, so our hike ended up being 1.5 miles longer than expected.
and yes, we did find a parking space after passing the grate – not sure that was only a quarter-mile away. Once we got the trail and to the nature part of the day it turned into a wonderful day to be hiking.
View towards the west from the ridge.
The flowers were just starting to come out. We might have to come up here again.
This is “Forest Trail.” Seriously, that’s what it’s called on the map, “Forest Trail.”
We had a wonderfully long day. By the map I figured we walked close to five miles, but my FitBit tracker registered 6.8 miles for the day. I haven’t decided if I failed map reading or if the FitBit is wrong.
In either case, my doctor told me Monday morning that I’d aggravated my plantar fasciitis by a combination of overuse and not stretching properly before hiking.
If you need me – I’ll be limping around the shop,
Andrew
Andrew's View of the Week 
Love the greenery of the photos, it looks like an amazing place for a hike! The hard slog was worth it for sure!
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It was a great hike!
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Beautiful pictures! Looks like a nice hike of you ask me 😉 In Belgium we have the same ‘problem’ with cyclists. They seem very confused by seeing a car on the road 😂
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It was a great day out there.
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I’d love to take that forest trail but would never make it. Love the photos.
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It’s a beautiful trail.
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Glad to hear you fared well on the trek and were able to get parking! ALways the worst when people overpack great places like that… Looking at the photos and the story itself make it sound like a day VERY well spent. Thanks for sharing!
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It was a great day out there. If I’d known about the bike event, we might have gone up on a different day.
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Haha I guess that’s all par for the course right? Wish I could say I hadn’t made that same mistake myself more than once!
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There’s a state park and a county park near my home. Both have trails like the one you show in your picture. I figure it’ll be about 3 weeks before I’m walking any of those trails here in the mountains of Tennessee.
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One of the things I love about California is our long outdoor season. Hope you hit the trail when you can. Good for body, soul and writing creativity.
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Beautiful photos and hope you’re feeling better by now!
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It was a great day. The foot is doing much better, but not ready for a long hike yet.
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What a beautiful hike – it’s too bad your lower extremities don’t agree. Hope you feel better soon…
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The foot is doing better already. Amazing what sitting around doing nothing can do for you.
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Your walk looks fabulous. It is often better going with someone who knows what they are seeing, Shame the bikes spoilt your paradise. x
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It’s a great place for great views. Dodging bikes wasn’t the fun part of the day.
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Such a beautiful hiking trail. I love your photos!
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It’s one of my favorites.
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Sounds like it was a wonderful day and almost worth the plantar fasciitis!
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It was a great day. The foot problem not so much wonderful. 😉
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Great photos. Sounds like you had a great time, perhaps, too good. Feel better.
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We had a great day. The foot is healing nicely, should be back on the trail soon.
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That is such a beautiful place to walk around, and what lovely weather!
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It was a wonderful day to be out and about.
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The trail looks worthy of a long hike, even after the extra walk. But hey, at least you saved a few bucks, right?
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It was a great hike. I did save the $8 parking fee, but kind of lost that Monday with the $10 co-pay fee to the doctor’s office to be told that I may have walked too much … sigh.
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That forest trail is exactly the sort of thing that beckoned to me as a child and still does, although I couldn’t manage more than about 1/4 mile today. One never knows what might be just around the bend …
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Yes, around the bend is adventure!
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Lovely photos — glad you got to take them!
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We had a great day!
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Looks like it was a beautiful day. Hopefully the plantar fasciitis will take it easy on you. That’s no fun at all.
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It was a wonderful day. Not too hot, a gentle breeze and clear skies. The foot is starting to feel better today – I’m hoping with a few days of taking it easy that I’ll get over it quick.
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From your photos, I’d say that the journey was worth the effort, Andrew. I hope that your fasciitis clears up soon.
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It was worth the effort. The foot is starting to feel better today, but I’ll have to take it easy for a few more days.
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Relax and enjoy the show on the Kitty Ladder. You earned it.
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I have the health monitor on my iPhone and it is often wrong. My FitBit (which I no longer use because I don’t like watches)–I think that was more accurate.
Not that I’m saying anything about your orienteering skills.
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Well, I have a BA in English so my math skills are often questioned…
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I, too, am fascinated by the forest trail. I just might be willing to hike 5 miles if it looked like that. Of course, at 80, I doubt I’d make it beyond the first quarter mile! I’ve got to start walking more! You’ve inspired me.
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It’s a favorite trail. Walking is good for everyone – even if it’s only around the block or the local park.
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I like the forest trail photo. That’s a long long walk/hike!
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The forest trail is my favorite hike in this park. We planned a long walk, didn’t think it would be that long.
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