Happy Birthday, NHM!

I am a member of the Nashville Hiking Meetup Group. We are a group that coordinates hikes online, and you can sign up to attend. The group recently celebrated their 2 year birthday with an after-work hike at Shelby Bottoms Greenway.

"Greenways are linear parks and trails which connect neighborhoods to schools, shopping areas, downtown, offices, recreation areas, open spaces and other points of activity. Often located along natural landscape features like streams, rivers and ridges, or along built features, such as railroad corridors and scenic highways, greenways provide valuable greenspace for conservation, recreation and alternative transportation. Greenways provide all citizens with barrier-free access to natural resources and recreational opportunities." -from the Nashville.gov website

The Shelby Bottoms Greenway is one of several greenways around Nashville. They are 5 miles of trails that completely paved and as such are accessible to hikers/walkers, wheelchairs, bikes, roller blades, etc. This greenway also has a nice visitor center with environmentally friendly innovations like their green roof (grass that grows on top of the roof, and no, they don't have to mow it!), drainage chains instead of gutters, and waterless urinals. A recently constructed bridge now crosses the Cumberland River and connects it to the Opry area. The Nashville Hiking Meetup helped paint and stain the bridge this summer as one of their service projects.

We had 47 people come out for the hike. These hikes are a great way to get out and get some exercise without having to worry about safety. The folks in the group are friendly (without being too friendly) and when the group is this large, you can pretty much hike at your own pace.

I ended up in the "fast" group with a lady named Diana from Australia, Sylvia-who likes parrots as much as I do and has an African Grey, Alex-who had his two-year old daughter on his back, and we were later joined by my good friend Kay and another lady (didn't get a chance to talk to her much). Alex's daughter kept wanting him to turn around and walk backwards so she could see the puppies in the group behind us. Too cute!

A little past 2 miles into the hike I felt like there was something in my shoe. Instead of a rock or twig, I found one very large blister! I was wearing my Chacos since I forgot my tennis shoes (brought the socks but not the shoes...). I have hiked in my Chacos many times before and have never had a problem! The one time I didn't have a backpack with me...

I had to turn around start the hike back. Before long I had a twin blister on the other foot. The long hike back consisted of me trying to walk on top of the straps, arranging them so that the blister would not touch my shoe, walking barefoot, pouring water from my Nalgene on my feet, etc. At this point it was also dark and I left my flashlight in the car.

I made it back to the car finally. I put my Crocs on for the ride home and soaked my worn out feet in the tub once I got home. It was a bummer of a birthday party for me, but I hear everyone else had a great time!