Row River Trail

Our weather took a change for the better yesterday -- sunshine and temps in the 60s. Quite a welcome state of events after weeks of rain!

A friend invited me to walk along the Row River Trail, which is a great biking/walking trail in Cottage Grove, south of Eugene. We've ridden our bikes there in years past but this time were just strolling along, enjoying being outside and in nature.

 The trail skirts Lake Dorena, fed by the Row River, and I was shocked to see it mostly dry because of the recent drought years. I haven't been here for years, and the lake was always wall-to-wall blue water. This was a bit sad. The good news is that we have had lots of rain, there's lots of snowpack in the mountains, and more rains are on the way, so this is probably going to fill up again soon. We hope!

And while I couldn't exactly call it pretty, I was more than a bit fascinated by the lighting and patterns in the dry -- but greening -- lake bed. The setting is wonderful, with all the green hills and quiet nature. This trail is a wonderful thing to have nearby, although I rarely think to drive down there by myself. It makes for a really nice bike ride.

Just below the picnic table where we stopped to enjoy the surroundings before returning to the car, many signs that the lake is trying to refill itself. The hillsides are running with water escaping saturated soils, and this water flows into streams and rivulets such as this one directly below us. On the other side of the lake, as we looped around in the car afterwards, the Row River itself is flowing strong and full.

It was so nice to escape this room for awhile! I get out, but rarely for more than an hour at a time. The rest of the time I'm almost trapped in this room. A nice room, to be sure, but still it's nice to do something else.

I took this week off from exercise, for several reasons. One, my knees were complaining about the hills, and two, my body is simply tired from a couple of weeks of little sleep and lots of walking/hiking. So, prudence suggested I just let it rest this week, and try to get more sleep. Not a lot of success in the sleep department, but last night was an improvement so maybe hope is on the horizon.