Green Rock Trail

May is a difficult month for me as everything is busy.  School is wrapping up, work gets crazy, and sports are in full swing.  This week was particularly challenging at work, and later days kept me from getting out much during the evenings.  On top of that, with Mother’s Day approaching my thoughts have been with my Mom who passed away last August.  I needed some time in the woods, and this time I needed to be by myself so I could just do my own thing.

Knowing that the Grand Canyon and the rim to rim hike looms in the near future, I also needed to log some serious miles on my aging legs. The choice of destination was easy, as Green Rock Trail in west St. Louis County is a rugged, fairly difficult trail that offers as many miles as anyone could want for one day.

Since I had to coach a 6:00 baseball game in the evening, I got an early start and made it to the trailhead in Rockwoods Range Conservation Area by 6:15.  The trail itself winds through a portion of Rockwoods Range for 2.9 miles, then 7.8 miles through Greensfelder Park County  Park, as well as an additional 3.6 miles in Rockwoods Reservation.  The first mile is beautiful, climbing quickly uphill alongside a small stream.  The trail is very narrow at this point, and only open to hikers on areas maintained by the Department of Conservation.  Once it enters the county park it is open to off-road cyclists and horses, who are both awesome groups and do a tremendous amount of things to maintain the trails, but things can get busy.

Again, it seems like a theme for me, the weather this spring is all confused.  There were still dogwoods and wild sweet William blooming, but the forecast was for a mid-90 degree day with high humidity much more typical of July.  The trees were green with lush and emerging leaves, and the numerous paw paws still had blooms.  And the birds, the birds were amazing.  The chorus of  birds was at times deafening, with so many individuals and so many different species singing at one time I had trouble sorting through the madness to decipher specific birds.  My birding by ear skills are suspect as it is, but I really struggled with the over-stimulation.  A few things were certain, though.  There was almost never even a minute that I could not hear a Tennessee warbler or Red-eyed vireo.  Also no shortage of Eastern wood-pewees, phoebes, gnatcatchers, and summer tanagers.  My favorite were the wood thrushes, not numerous but present throughout.  The beautiful call almost sounds as if it is in stereo, so loud it resonates over everything else.  Also added Magnolia warbler, scarlet tanager, and Kentucky warbler to my list for the year.  While I heard birds nonstop, the best viewing was anywhere near some of the few small creeks or springs where the birds actually came down from the treetops and lingered for a drink and a bath.

It was also a day for box turtles, as I counted 16 total for the day along side the trail.  I did interrupt a few different couples copulating right in the middle of the trail, so apparently it is turtle breeding season.  I will spare you the photos as this is a family site.

In addition, I scared up only two snakes.  The first was a black rat snake who did his best rattlesnake imitation shaking his tail back and forth as I approaced for a photo.  The second was a rough-green snake, always a neat sight, as it quickly climbed a Honeysuckle plant where it blended in easily.  There were countless skinks, but they move too quickly to offer much of a view.

Often times while walking on the Green Rock trail, it feels like you are in a deep wilderness somewhere among mature trees and wildlife on every bend.  Then you cross an asphalt road or path and find yourself literally in the shadow of a rollercoaster at Six Flags Amusement Park and you are accompanied by the crowds screaming at the ups and downs.  You walk a bit further and again have the woods to yourself, the roller coaster drowned out by the birds.  I continued on the trail as it drops down and follows a creek for a mile or two where the equestrian trail is set up.  Then the trail leads uphill again towards Rockwoods Reservation, which would be a nice place to have a partner park a second car so that you could hop in and catch a ride back to the trailhead.  Since I was alone, I started heading back a little after 11 miles in, stopping for a lunch break at the picnic table near where it intersects with the Eagle Valley Trail.

Just as you might expect, the terrain over the course of the 11 miles changes drastically along the way.  There are times along the way where the trail is surrounded by large oaks, hickories, and ash trees. Other times there are thick cedar groves, and my favorite, dense stands of paw paws.  There are also bottomland creeks with red buckeye, a few dry glades, and some hillsides literally covered in ferns.  Flowers included wild bergemot, wild geranium, dwarf larkspur, bird’s foot violet, wild sweet William, hoary puccoon, calendine poppy, jack-in-the-pulpit, and may apples.  There are a few locations tainted by invasive honeysuckle, but the for the most part the woods are open and botanically diverse.

After 9.5 hours and 22.72 miles, I finally made it back to my truck.  The hike was good for my mind, giving me time to clear my thoughts and even time to daydream about trivial things of no real importance.  For this I am thankful.  My legs held up well, and I reaffirmed that new, fresh socks provide much better cushion on tired feet than the older pairs with lots of miles on them.  I also found some food combinations that worked well for energy on the trail, so a few more steps forward in preparation for the big rim to rim hike on the horizon.  I had to miss 4 soccer games and a track meet to make this happen, and it left Debbie short-handed for the day.  Fortunately, we both understand how important it is to get outside and hit the reset button.  So, even when it seems like there is no possible way to make it all work, I encourage you to make the effort to get outside and find your peace.  You can thank me later.

For more information on the Green Rock Trail, visit:

https://www.stlouisco.com/parksandrecreation/parkpages/greensfelder

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/rockwoods-range