Steep Walkways

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 5-28-2020
Click the pic to enlarge it.  


It was an early morning walk today.  We needed to get in a couple of miles before it got HOT.  The choice was to attack the Diablo East Boat Ramp and Marina area.  It has good surfaces and HILLS to help with the aerobic effort also.

Sierra got our usual spot near the Nature Trail at the corner of the huge parking lot for the boat ramp.  It was an excellent choice as it turned out. The walk turned out to be three loops based at Sierra for water resupply.

First effort was the marina loop of the facility. We marched on down the hill to the marina falling apart building.  Then we looked at the steep paved walkway down to the marina.  Yep the OFM legs need some steep hill work and today is it. Here is a picture of the marina from the top of the ridge.

The OFM was very careful going down so as to not slip. As round as he is, it is likely he would have rolled and bounced his way down to the water. That might have been a disaster. 

When we got to the bottom, the fellow bank fishing there caught a small largemouth bass. Good for him we thought. He shows up in the picture above to the right of the docks. And here he is getting ready to cast back out.

After enjoying the area for a few minutes the OFM started up the LOOOOOONG STEEP walkway.  He needed two rest a minute breaks on the way up. By the time he made the top he needed a rest a few minutes break.  That is a very steep walkway and the OFM legs will probably consume a hand full of Ibuprofen tonight to prevent the leg cramps from developing.

From here we went the short distance to the picnic area near the old marina building.  You walk out on the walkway and quickly you find yourself on a somewhat narrow ridge.  At the end of the ridge you can look down into the arroyo and see the water.  The tan streak coming from mid right side of the picture is another of those steep walkways. The OFM declined to try another one. We still have the up hill stretch to get back to Sierra.

We started back to the main parking lot and the OFM legs seemed to be doing well. So back at the parking lot, the OFM decided to meander over and take the short section of another trail that winds down in an arroyo and comes out by the boat ramp. It is short easy dips and hills so we made good time around to the ramp area. Then on across the parking lot to Sierra.

The OFM wanted more walking so we voted on the nature trail as it is only a half mile and is only lightly inclined uphill both ways.

It was a nice finish to the walking effort for the day. The OFM water bottle was about empty and we called it a day after the two hours of meandering on the hills of this area. The heat was building and it was time to head back to the Castle and call it a successful day of trying to have tooooo much fun.