Green River Walk on a Gray Afternoon

Monday was the first day in a while where I could just do as I pleased and make it up as I went along.  

I did not get out of bed until 8:15, even though I had been awake for a while. Then I planted myself in my computer chair and caught up with the world through email, Facebook, and bloggers.

It must have been close to 10:00 before I was dressed and got some breakfast. I put the dining room back to its non-company form, did some laundry, and consolidated the rest of the Christmas cookies into one large container and put them back in the freezer. 

We knew we needed to go for a walk. We both have pounds to lose after all that eating. So, in the afternoon, after a long lunch with the newspaper, Tom and I drove down into the valley, parked in a lot along the Green River near the Southcenter Mall, and instead of walking south on the Green River Trail, as we usually do, we decided to see where it took us going north and how it would take us safely through the maze of freeway intersections and get us to Fort Dent, a place we knew. 

The Green River looked pretty brown to my eyes, but in the camera it does actually look sort of green, muddy green. 

 It was raining ever so slightly, and eventually quit all together.

 We went under lots of overpasses, as the trail stayed down along the river and the rest of the busy world was up there somewhere. 

 We arrived at Fort Dent without once leaving the river.

 The Black River is all but gone now, and the Green is kept within its diked banks, but at one time this area was more water than land, and boat navigation was the means for transporting people and goods. 

 The trail crossed over the river for a second time in our two mile stretch of the trail. 

 Here is where the remnants of the Black River drain out into the Green. 

 There was not much wildlife to see on our walk today, so we appreciated spotting this Hooded Merganser. 

 Mrs. Merganser was there too, but she seemed to wish to stay out of the picture. 

 "Train whistle blowing" added to the feel of the place, urban yet wild, industrial yet natural. 

 Two guys on bikes shouted "Hey, it's not raining!" as they pedaled by.  Yay!

 After about two miles, we turned around.

 Around the bends, along the banks, and under the freeways we did go. 

 Back at the car I took a few minutes to just gaze at the river.  My little Canon zoom lens found these friends - Common Mergansers, I think. 

We walked for over an hour, covered 3.85 miles, and enjoyed the fresh air and exercise.