If you haven't yet stopped in at the Flint Creek Nature Trail on the south side of Gentry, you need to make it a point to do so. The trail is just west of Highway 59 from the Sleepy Hollow Store on Dawn Hill East Road. You can't miss it.
Linda and I usually walk there six or sevenb mornings a week. When it's hot, we try to get there early enough to beat the heat.
The trail makes its way through woods and around a small pond and offers easy access to Flint Creek itself. And while it is quite small by most standards, it does offer a nice, shady place to walk or exercise your dog or take your children to cool off in the creek. And the little park is quite pretty with deep woods and the sound of water flowing from the pond into Flint Creek. Since we are oftentimes the first ones to walk the trail, I usually take a small cane stick to clear out spider webs along the way. Otherwise, on the first trip around the trail, we would be constantly wiping spider webs off our faces.
While there are several side trails that loop around and rejoin the main trail, the walk around the perimeter is close to a half-mile in length. Each day, Linda and I aim to walk for 45 minutes or 2 ½ miles or get at least 5,000 steps in before breakfast. I reckon the 5,000 steps are the most important thing to us. That way we can end our day with twice that or thereabouts. From what I've read, walking more than 10,000 steps a day does not offer any added health benefits.
We usually get there around 7 or a little later and, while I like to walk the perimeter five times and be done with it, Linda likes to vary things a bit by taking some of the cross trails. I say she likes to do this, but she mostly walks with me. I kind of like the idea of being done with hacking my way through spider webs and not always be finding new ones.
Every inch of the trail is paved and is mostly level, with a few small dips and rises along the way. There is a bridge where the pond spills over its dam and you can usually spy a turtle or two in the water. Sometimes you can see where a large turtle has walked across the wet grass from the pond to the woods. And sometimes you will actually see the turtle himself. He looks like he could easily bite my walking stick in two, or a broom handle, for that matter.
Rabbits are plentiful and mostly unafraid of walkers. We see many squirrels and almost always spy a Great Blue Heron on the pond or in the creek. Occasionally, there are large woodpeckers flying around and areas where robins are listening for worms on the lawn. We hear the woodpeckers and the cardinals and often marvel at the peaceful scenes that unfold as we walk. Sometimes we are both lost in thought as we make our way around and around the park.
One unfortunate consequence of the warm weather is an abundance of algae on the water, which is rather unsightly. In colder weather, this is greatly diminished and the water is a beautiful aqua blue. The only other minus, if you can call it that, is the road noise from Highway 59. It is louder than I would wish for, but that is a small thing.
We often see the same people walking the trail with their dogs or their spouses or friends or alone, as the case may be. Some are friendly, while others keep mostly to themselves. One older couple has a pair of dogs that bark whenever they see someone else, which is annoying because it is almost constant. Also, there is one lady who talks on her phone the entire time she is walking. Another one reads a book which strikes me as rather an odd thing to do while walking. But then I guess it's better than reading while driving and besides, who am I? I'm just an old guy, with his wife, taking a walk in the park.
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and regular contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.