River Place Nature Trail - The Good Tired

On the 23rd of July, I will turn 51 years young. Toby asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday and hiking was the first thing that came to mind.

I had our hike picked out weeks ago. Even though the temps are expected to be in the low 100's the reviews of the River Place Nature Trail revealed the hike is a shaded one with plenty of swimming holes along the way.

The trail head was situated directly in the middle of a million dollar  neighborhood with beautiful views of the surrounding hills. I have to admit, I lusted a little at such a lifestyle...

The trail is very well marked with a few kiosk, mile markers and a couple of different emergency exits. After hiking the challenging trail, we knew why there were emergency exits.

The first part of the trail was Little Fern Trail. It was a nice portion of the trail with some little waterfalls to stop, cool off and relax...

Small rocks getting lodged in our water shoes are always an issue

The fish liked Toby's feet

We arrived at a fork in the trail and took Canyon Trail. Little did I know what I was getting into.
The wooden stairs were numerous and some were extremely steep. There was A LOT of descending and ascending (mostly ascending) elevation to this hike 890 feet up to the top!

I got to a point where each time I saw a set of  ascending steps I moaned and silently wondered if I would make it before I had a heart attack.

Once I miraculously made it to the top I realized that I had only THOUGHT that I was in shape for an old lady. But, I did make it!!

The view at the top was totally worth it....

 

Getting back down was much easier, but we worked a different set of muscles. My calf muscles are paying the price as I write.

Once we made it back to the main trail head we had the option of checking out another shorter trail called Lower Panther Trail. We debated and decided as tired, hot and hungry as we were, we were curious enough about the last trail to make it our finale to the day.

It was an easy walk along mostly boardwalk that lead to a retention pond full of turtles...

Despite the physical challenges Toby and I really enjoyed this hike. I recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging hike but it's definitely not for those not with health issues or not "in shape"....hence, the reason for the emergency exits.

I don't think I have ever been so tired, but it was a good tired.