a different kind of walk

 

I walked today with my friend Pam, her child, and her cousin Mary. Mary is up from Florida visiting so the humidity doesn't bother her at all. She's also visually impaired.

Pam sent a text yesterday asking for a place that paved, and natural because Mary wanted to go for a hike. Not usually an easy to find combo. I thought about it. And then I Googled accessible trails and found an article from the Morning Call in 2017. It said there was a sensory trail at the Wildland's Conservancy and had adaptions for blind and visually impaired. What? I thought I knew all the trails there. I replied to the text with the details, and it was a go. We planned to meet at 8:30.

This trail is off of Cedar Crest Blvd, and the northern most part of the property. We turned down Farr road to get there. I missed it. There is no sign, and it's just an unpaved driveway. If you didn't know something was back there, you'd never find it. I passed it the first time and came back around again. Thankfully the Lott/Tichos were running late so I saved them the hassle of getting lost.

The path is about 3/4 of a mile. It's grass. The blind/visually impaired hold on to a rope to guide them. Pam's cousin did part rope. Part Pam. She did not bring her cane. Since she can see shapes and contrast, the  posts having white tops Mary could see, rather than feel, when a post was coming. But the weeds were out of control trying to break out of their barrier. A couple times Pam stopped her and offered her her arm to get around them. It was hard to hear the birds and bugs. But you could still hear Cedar Crest Boulevard.

I brought bandannas and Connie and I covered our eyes to see if we could experience what Mary was experiencing. She led the way. I started very slow and almost ran into Connie. 

There were also stations where you could feel bird and animal tracks as well as leaves. The words were in braille as well as English. Neither was useful to her because she cannot read braille. Mary could feel the tracks but since she sees shapes she thought she might be able to see them too. But it was all the same color. She suggests adding contrast like they did with the posts. Although by the third one, Mary said this is kind-of silly. How could a blind person track animals? 

 

The final station was a touch and feel box. It was broken. Since we hadn't taken off our blindfolds yet, we all tried. I had about 50% accuracy. Passing items was tough.

After finishing this trail we moved the cars to the Wildland's main parking lot and did the boardwalk trail. Connie help Mary on the narrow path to the boardwalk and navigating her on to the boardwalk. But it's narrow enough that she had handrails on either side and didn't need assistance. Whenever there was a turnoff or stairs, Pam blocked them and guided her. Otherwise it was Connie in front and me in back ready to leap into action. Again, the plants were high. So much rain.

Pam was going to send the Wildland's Mary's suggestions on how to make it even better. And the maintenance issues.

Neither were long walks, but they were interesting. Angel, we should take Nan here.

Miles/Steps:  One was about a mile. The other maybe 3/4 of a mile.
Weather:       low-70s, sunny, the humidity was climbing with the temperature
Wildlife:        Monarch butterfly, heard frogs, leaf bug, aka Katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium)
EXTRA:          Why has no one told me this outfit looks like shit on me? I thought I was looking cute.These photos tell a different story. After it's washed it's going in the Goodwill bag. I also need to rethink tank tops. I can't buy more.
Photos:         Pam Lott