On Wednesday, I was supposed to be on a plane to Portland for the week. Sadly, the airline was a little less than reliable, and so I ended up returning home for another night of sleeping in my own bed. This, of course, led me to believe that I should utilize my extra time to get a good hike in, and I found a great trail to do it on - The Twisting Bends Loop
at Waverly Park.
Measuring out to 2.2 miles, the trail would seem to be a fairly light and easy hike - after all, 2.2 miles isn’t that great a distance. The opening bit of the trail that leads from the road to the beginning of the particular named part of the trail was nice and accessible as well, but that’s where the easy part ended.
The hike itself wasn’t challenging - what makes the Twisting Bends Loop so difficult is the shape of the thing. It twists in on itself as you climb along ridges and valleys, often moving within eyesight of the trail you just passed. The challenge on this one is pretty much all psychological. When I had thought that I was near the end and pulled out my map to check, I realized that I probably still had another mile to go. Not only that, but I kept thinking that I had seen bits of trail before, quite possibly because I had, in a sense. There were several occasions where the trail took a sharp curve and a landmark was visible when the two sides of the curve would almost meet at points. This definitely threw me off.
Despite the challenge to my sanity, the Twisting Bends Loop
was a good hike. It’s fairly easy to walk, with not too many difficult up or downhills, and very few tight spots. There are a considerable amount of mosquitos, however, so make sure you come prepared to be a feast. And if you run in to my new friend (above) tell him I said hi! He jumped right out in front of me and just about made me scream. I followed him around for a bit and got the picture, and then he vanished again as soon as I lowered the lens.
Cover photo courtesy of shutterstock.