BIKER BACK!!! Yes, that is in all caps with three exclamation points, because that was what was yelled at us every two minutes or so on trail today! It was nerve-wracking. It was annoying. I wasn’t happy. And Mike knew it. Was this going to turn out to be a bad hike? I thought so at first…but then I had a change of perspective.
Sunday morning. We wake up to clear blue skies and cool temps, and you know what that means for us – time to hit the trails somewhere! When we decide at the last minute to hike, we usually keep it pretty close, and one of our all-time go-to, quick-fix-for-a-great-hike trails is at Lake Grapevine in Murrell Park. Now, this is not only a really great, moderate hiking trail with some beautiful views of Lake Grapevine along with some rocky terrain to give a bit of a challenge, but it is also a DORBA trail, so we always fully expect bikers to be present. But on this perfectly cool sunshiny day, we had no idea the number of bikers we would encounter as we made our way down the dirt path.
When we arrived, we should have gotten our first clue, as the parking lot was way more packed than we had ever seen it before. We parked, grabbed our gear, and headed toward the trail, and that is when we noticed the tent and cones near the trailhead. Someone nearby told us that today was a bike race day, and to be careful to yield to bikers on trail so we wouldn’t get run over. Gee thanks…I rolled my eyes and just knew we might be in trouble and I wouldn’t get the peaceful, serendipitous experience I was craving for the day.
We headed out anyway on our usual path. Sure enough, twenty seconds in, BIKER BACK!!! Ok, we move over and let them by. Back on trail, a minute later, BIKER BACK!!! Here we go again. This went on for the first full mile of the trail, and at one point I turned to Mike and actually rolled my eyes for the second time today (I am not an “eye roller,” so this says a lot!). His response…maybe it will clear out soon. Really? I wasn’t buying it. He said, “Sorry honey,” which was sweet but not really his fault. As I reflected on this, I thought, wow, this is really both our faults. We should have checked the trail website ahead of time. Lesson #1 learned for the day. Always check the trail website the day before or the day you are heading out so you can be prepared for what’s going on at the trail site.
But at this point, it’s too late for that so we try to make do. What are we gonna do anyway? It was too late to head back and go somewhere else. So, we tried to make the best of it. We continued down trail, and as per our usual thing, we got quiet and headed off into our zen worlds. For those of you out there who don’t know what that is…it means we let our minds wander. For me, I thought about my irritation at the bikers invading “my trail time.” I thought about my need for peace and quiet and special time with my husband. And I thought about my disappointment. And then….BIKER BACK!!! Ahhh, I step aside…and as I watched that rider pass by and give me a “thank you” (they are very polite after all), I reflected even deeper as I watched his retreating figure head off down trail. Hey, he was enjoying his experience out here. He was here for a reason too. He needed the trail as much as I did. All of the bikers did. They were out here to resonate with nature just like me, but in a different mode of transportation. And that, I thought, is a beautiful thing.
So, I changed my perspective at that moment. I looked down the trail, saw the beauty I expected and so addictively needed, and thought about how I could make this hike just as fulfilling as all of the others I had been on recently. Even though Mike and I were constantly having to slide off to the side of the trail to let others by, we were still together, experiencing the same thing at the same moment, and still getting the greater benefit of the beautiful day, the whispering leaves, the cool streams, the colorful fall leaves. And, we were getting to share it with others as well. We can’t be selfish about that, because nature is there for everyone to enjoy in their own special way. Maybe it wasn’t completely quiet out there, but there definitely were other benefits to focus on for this particular trail, on this particular day. It’s all about perspective, after all.
We did, indeed, continue down the trail, determined to get something out of this hike, and actually at one point the arrows for the bikers headed in a different direction, so we had longer moments of the trail to ourselves. We enjoyed that. But…also, I was no longer frustrated when the “BIKER BACK” happened, because, well, we were all out there together enjoying a blue-skied, cool-weather temp, perfect-trail, perfect-nature sorta day.
There will be times when you head out on trail and encounter things that make you think “this is a bad hiking day.” It may seem like a bad experience upon first glance. You may feel disappointed, frustrated, even ready to turn back. But wait…take a deep breath…and try to change your perspective. Look at the nature around you, breathe in the moment, try to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes as they pass you by on trail. Change your perspective about the moment, and it will turn out to be a perfect hike. Change your view of the moment, because you do have control over that, and you can make it a perfect hike.
Lesson #2, the trail is not yours alone and that is Ok. Be ready to share it, because that is a gift to give to others. People on the trail, whether hikers, bikers, equestrian riders, whatever, are there because that is their “joyful place” just like it is yours. And you can make connections with that. If…you are willing to have a different perspective.
To find out more about the North Shore Trail at Murrell Park, Lake Grapevine, see our Trails tab.
