I'm glad Dan told me about the Luce Line Trail. Designed for non-motorized traffic of all kinds, this former railroad track was a great respite from the increasingly heavy traffic as I approached the Twin Cities. It only required a four-mile detour off of Highway 7 into Winsted. From there, I had the 35-mile Luce Line pretty much to myself. The crushed limestone trail was hard, dry and in good condition. I saw two deer early on and only four or five walkers. At least half of the trail was shaded in comparison to the almost 0% shade on the Highway.
Something that caught my attention were the frequent signs telling trail users to clean up after their dogs. The signs told about the diseases that dog feces can give to our children, and they proclaimed "It's The Law." The state even provided the little baggies for the clean-up task.
I was glad to see that the signs are working. I did not see a single dog turd all day. Sadly, however, horses, or should I say horse owners, seem to get a free pass. I saw plenty of horse crap on the trail and that is only on the sections where the horse trail coincides with the biking/jogging/walking trail. Those sections comprise less than 10% of the overall trail. Otherwise, the horse trail is separated and runs parallel to the main trail. I can't imagine how full of horse poop that part of the trail is. I can't imagine how big of baggies you'd need to clean up after those beasts. I can't imagine why horse apples are not a disease threat to children. I can't imagine why the LAW applies only to dog owners.
The Luce Line State Trail takes one into Plymouth, a western suburb of Minneapolis. The Luce Line Metro Trail goes to Minneapolis where one can connect to a series of trails that takes one pretty much throughout the metro area. This will be the last night of my adventure. From my Super 8 Motel in Golden Valley, it is only about 50 miles to my home in Hastings. I don't even know what else to say about that.
No comments:
Post a Comment