Like I wrote in my previous post, on Friday, August 19, 2022, I went hiking over at Leakin Park in western Baltimore.
Apparently, Leakin Park has a bad reputation with people that I have met who claimed to be familiar with the park. Yes, I have listened to all episodes for Season One of the Serial Podcast from NPR. For those who do not know, the first season of the Serial Podcast analyzes the murder of local high school student Hae Min Lee. High school student Adnan Syed was convicted for the murder of Hae Min Lee. After she was killed, Adnan Syed and an accomplice buried her corpse near a trail along the southern edge of Leakin Park near Franklintown Road (see trail map). The murder of Hae Min Lee shocked people who live in the Baltimore suburban communities of Catonsville, Woodlawn, and Windsor Mill. I FINALLY got around to listening to the Serial podcast a couple of years ago. It was a good listen. Is Adnan Syed the murderer or is he innocent of the charges? That's a conclusion the listener will have to determine on their own after listening to all 11 episodes of the podcast. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. I should probably give the podcast another listen.
Now that is out of the way, I had a good time hiking a good portion of the trails over at Leakin Park. Admittedly, I got off to a bad start. Since I took the day off from work, I woke up really late. I got caught up in drinking several cups of coffee and getting lost on the internet. Plus, when I started to get ready to leave my apartment, my body started to fight against me. Too bad. I didn't reach the parking lot at Eagle Road and Windsor Mill Road until around, say, 3:30 PM. It was a partly cloudy day. The temperature was in the low 90s with humidity over 80%.
In addition to dusting off my old pair of Salomon hiking boots that I bought at the REI down in Fairfax, VA, I made sure to bring a wide-brimmed sun hat and a Camelbak full of water. Next time, I will also bring some snacks.
After a couple of minutes on the trail, I started sweating from every pore in my body. I lost track of the blue square trail markers on the first trail that I was on. The free map provided at the trailhead annotated only the major trails. I tried using Google Maps on my cell phone, but Google Maps would not show any of the trails inside Leakin Park. After retracing my steps, I eventually made it to Winan's Meadow. There, I ran in a member of park staff. When we went to the trail map near the parking lot, he went over some of the other trails at Leakin Park and how some of the trails connected to the hiking trails over at Gwynns Falls. Next time I go hiking over at Leakin Park, I'm definitely going to explore the trails over at Gwynns Falls.
Surprisingly, I found the trail to be quite a challenge. Then again, I'm borderline obese (I am desperately trying to lose weight.) and I have osteoarthritis in both knees. The Breg knee braces that I wore worked spectacularly. The only downside to wearing the Breg knee braces is that one has to occasionally stop and readjust the Velcro straps for a snug fit. According to my Samsung 4 watch, I ended up walking 12,304 steps and burned 985 calories. Like I wrote, it was a really good workout.
I am planning to go hiking again this weekend. For now, I am planning to check out the trails in the Gwynns Falls area.
