TheBanyanTree: Walkabout

[Rob McMonigal]

With my current new-at-the-old job, I get every other Friday off, to work
Saturday.  While at first that sounds kinda crappy, it gives me a lot of
less-busy days to do things without the crowds of people that exist on
weekends.  People are fine, sometimes, but it's also nice to be more or less
alone in the world, with only retirees and midnight shifters around.

I took this Friday to take a little walk with my Dad on a local trail system
that used to be part of the vast railways here in this area that are now
part of not-quite-as-vast trails.  The great thing about them is they are
long and flat and perfect for having a conversation.  While not as exciting
as hiking up a ltitle-used trail, they're perfect for clearing one's head,
which as many of you know is just what I need right now.

We had a good time, talking about all kinds of things, from the now
ex-relationship and some of the pitfalls to putting up historical markers to
why people in the burbs drive Hummers, with quite a few other topics thrown
in for good measure.  Dad and I don't do that all that often, and if there's
one good thing--and it seems like there are going to be more than one good
thing--to come out of all this, it's that I'll have this chance to really be
together in ways we never could before.  I'm so glad for that, because I
really thought that we'd never get that opportunity, especially when he
seemed determined to work himself right to death.

Originally, the plan was to see what lay beyond the Allegheny-Washington
County line, and see if there was a way to go from where I commute into work
via light-rail into South Park (yes, it's really called South Park.  And
yes, for those who know the "cartoon" show, I do take people from out of
state there, just so they can say they went to South Park and had themselve
a time...).  Turns out there's a bridge out--literally--that prevents you
from doing so for now.  I'm sure that will change later.  So we headed in
the other direction, just a little ways, to see what we could see.

And we kept on walking, under the road that took us there, through a wooded
area, past another trail, and right up to a trail marker.

Hmm.  Logan Road, 2.8 miles.

Well, let's just walk that way a little bit.  (This after doing about 2
miles of walking.)

We started off, trying to place the trail against the local roads, talking
about management style and how much I enjoy working now as part of a team,
since I am--shock of shocks--a very big people person.  We kept walking,
past a portable bathroom--a very sensible thing to have on a trail, if you
ask me!--and then to a very familiar intersection.

Al's Cafe!  Now I know where we are!

Shall we keep going?

Sure, why not?

The trail breaks off here, briefly, due to lack of a bridge.  There's a sign
offering a chance to help build it, and I might give them some money after
tax time.  We crossed a road we've driven on many many times and made the
last mile or so walk to the end of the trailhead, taking a few minutes to
rest before turning back.

It was about then we realized it was going to be a 5 mile or so walk back.
;)

Want to call Mom?

Nah, let's give it a try.

So we set off again, stopping at a convenience store for sandwiches to
refuel.  Dad mentioned that we should have brought sandwiches.  I replied
that I hadn't figured on a 10+ miles walk.

It was your idea.

No, no--I just said let's go a little further.  You're the one that kept us
going past the school.

It was getting a bit cold after sitting, so we set out, talking more and
slowing our pace up just a little bit, reaching various landmarks  The first
two miles after eating weren't bad, but the last leg still needed walking,
and I have to admit, I felt a little bit overexerted when we reached the
overpass again.  Soon enough, we saw the truck and a place to rest for the
short ride home.  All in all, what I expected to be a few miles turned into
the second-longest trip Dad and I have done, 10.5 miles.  We're both in
better shape now than we were the time we did a little over 11 a few years
ago.

I had a great time.

Me, too.

We need to do this again, on another part of the trail, maybe next Friday
I'm off.

Sure.  With sandwiches.

-Rob
www.montourtrail.org
http://www.montourtrail.org/maps/peters.html (we took the Bethel Park Branch
as part of the walk)