February 1, 2026
One of the very few things I really like about where I live is the trail system that the developer created – Robert Powell bought this chunk of river front property, which had been thoroughly dredge-mined since the 1800’s, and had a vision of creating a planned community with separate villages separated by nature trails. He did a pretty good job of making that vision a reality – it’s pretty cool to be able to wander miles of trails, lined with very wild patches of big oak trees and various native undergrowth. Lot’s of birds and beasties (rattle snakes too) live in the dredged-created mounds of river rock. And best of all, the trails connect in two places to the American River Parkway, a county maintained bike trail which runs along the American River between Sacramento and Folsom.
I try to take walks on the trail three or four times a week, and usually around the same loop, about 2 miles worth. Today I was really bored and wanted to up my mileage – I need to start getting in shape anyhoo for the summer, where I may be doing up to six miles on some of my trips. So, I strapped on my Forest Gump foot brace, grabbed a small pack to carry water, and headed out the door. It was a great day for doing anything outdoors – low 60’s, high clouds, lite breeze. That’s why it costs so much to live here in California – it’s a climate tax.
I was not alone in deciding to hit the trails today – there were walkers, runners and lots of cyclists on the parkway. Almost everyone is friendly, and the cyclists are almost always courteous (I still don’t like all the high-powered motorized bikes on the trail). I have walked to the river many times in the past year – there’s a path I take to a quiet spot along one of the rocky channels created for spawning salmon, where I go to once in a while to ponder my fate. But today I chose to follow along the river bike path from one entry point to the other, about a mile or so with some slight hills, and great views of the river.
When I grabbed my pack, I thought briefly about tossing (gently) one of the camera in. Well, I regretted the decision to leave it home. The phone camera is darn good in the Pixel 10, but really cannot compare to the capabilities of a Sony DSLR. And of course, I encountered some interesting opportunities on my little walk. Like a big, white heron hunting in the reeds on one of the islands.
Oh well. There will be other opportunities. I plan to start taking longer walks along the river every few days now, and pretty soon, the eagle pair will be back at their nest, and I’ll branch out further on the trail to see (and hopefully photograph) their chicks.
Once I made it to the second entrance to Gold River, I started the long walk back home. Along the way, I passed my previous residence in Enterprise Village – we sold it during the Covid Pandemic when we decided to move back to Colorado. We were afraid that if we both died of the disease, nobody would know until the Turkey Vultures started circling the house. I wish we could have bought it back when we returned – it was a great house. Sigh.
According to the All Trails app on my phone, I managed to cover almost 3.5 miles. Not very fast, but pretty good for me. I could try to pick up the pace a bit, but what would be the point – I might miss a good photo op. Better to be slow and steady, and enjoy the scenery.
The Traveling Widower 