Matson Hill Trail failure #2

Posted by Kara

  Attempted to do a hike today at Matson Hill Park, a second try since the trail was closed last time I tried to go.  Must have bad luck with this trail, because it was rained out despite leaving very early in hopes of beating the heat and the thunderstorms. A little bit of rain doesn't bother me while hiking, but I don't to be a mile or two into the trail when a really bad thunderstorm hits. Took a couple of pictures as it started raining, since the tree coverage was nice. The colors looked wonderful in the rain. I managed to get back into my car right as a torrential rain and thunder and lightning started, and sat until it eased up a little bit. It was very peaceful, even if I was stuck inside my car. When the rain slowed down to a drizzle, a man from the Park's Service came and put a "Trail Closed" sign up, so that was that. The sky looked questionable still, so I decided to just explore and drive around.

After a rainstorm like that, the countryside almost starts looking tropical. Everything is really green and you can see steam rising up from the forests and hills. The air was a little cooler, so I got to drive with my windows down, but the mugginess of the humidity was  pretty stifiling. It also got very hot very fast, and the mosquitoes were everywhere. It's been quite a few months since I've been out, so getting to see the area in late sping/early summer was really pretty. I stopped by the Katy Trail to look around, the Daniel Boone homestead site (which wasn't open yet), and the Weldon Springs Interpretive Center, which is a covered mound 75 feet tall that was the answer to clean up of waste products-- the area had been used to make TNT during the 40s, and an uranium processing plant in the 50s. You can climb up to the top of the mound and look around the area. Check out the website here: http://www.greatriverroad.com/stcharles/weldonsite.htm

Not a total loss today. Though I didn't get the nice walk I really wanted, I still got a long peaceful drive in the country. Next weekend it is supposed to be even hotter, so I'm wondering if it will be awhile again until I'm able to really get back to doing what I love best.