The Great Western Trail

Kathryn Holding Lynnea on  the bike

So we probably shouldn't even count this as biking the trail because we only biked 4 miles out and back of the 16.5 miles of the trail but we'll post about it for now.  I'm sure we will do the entire trail another time. To be honest we also really wanted to record another trail/entry, so here it is!

The Great Western Trail is a portion of what once was an old railroad built in 1899 that connected Kansas City, Chicago and St. Paul.  The portion of the trail that we went on was still within the Des Moines perimeter but we shortly left that and found ourselves in farm country, then a golf course and then back into the farmland/ prairie.  If we had gone further then we would have found ourselves in the wooded valley of North River.  From this trail you can also hook up onto the Lake Maffit Picnic Loop which is roughly 22 miles.  We hope to do that one soon.

The portion that we went on was very flat yet had a slight upgrade the entire way out making it necessary to pedal the entire time without coasting (that was tiring!).  The views were pleasant though with the forested portions next to the trail and the farmland and prairie just past that.  After we snapped a pic of our friend Lynnea (in gazelle form) we turned around and headed back to our Jeep.  The way back went faster because of the slight downgrade in elevation.  Sadly because we were going to fast I was unable to stop in time before a little squinny ran into my front tire, flipped, rolled and then ran away.  It was terrifying!  I'm not sure what became of that poor little chipmunk, but we both hope its ok.  Kathryn thinks that he ended up not getting hurt but of course I think that I killed him. RIP baby squinny :(  On a happier note though we saw a distant cousin of Lynnea's out on the trail; a cute doe.  She totally was unafraid of us while she stood there grazing.  Super cute! Then after she ran away we finished our short journey, went home and died because the sun was beating down on us the entire time.

Lynnea's distant cousin

Sorry you may have to download it to see it better

Neal Smith Trail

So we actually did this ride on Tuesday June 18th but we just started this blog and that wasn't too long ago so we will add it as our first post.  The Neal Smith trail actually starts as the John Pat Dorrian trail in Des Moines then runs north to connect to the Neal Smith.  As you bike along the path next to you is the Des Moines river for most of the route until the trail curves and you bike along the east side of Saylorville Lake. Eventually the trail ends at the Big Creek beach and marina in Big Creek State Park.  The length of the Neal Smith trail is 26 miles and the John Pat Dorrian trail is 2.2 miles.  You can also reach the Trestle to Trestle trail off the the Neal Smith which is 3.8 miles.

On one of the bridges in the more forested part of the trail.

Kathryn and I did not do the entire route.  We started from Cherry Glen Campground on the east side of Saylorville Lake and took the trail to the end (Big Creek beach and marina).  This portion of the trail had both open prairie and forested portions which contained winding turns, small hills, large drops, bridges and connections to many other campgrounds, boat docks and roads.  We both really enjoyed this trail. The forested portions were slightly shaded which was nice because it was close to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and not a cloud in the sky.  The open parts were really hot. The last few miles of the ride was mainly downhill and across a few bridges.  It was forested and high above the river.  Going over the bridges and being that exposed was kind-of scary but we quickly crossed it before we over-thought the situation.  The forest quickly turned into the open prairie again and we knew we were close to the end of the trail. Once we arrived to the beach and marina we stopped to take a break.  At that point we had biked 12 miles.  This also was our first bike ride so at this point we were really tired.  We then made hot dogs on a grill nearby and went kayaking on the lake.  After all of this excitement we caught a ride from a friend back to our campsite because we were too tired from the activities and drained from the sun.  Overall it was a great trail!

Here is the link to the trail: http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Portals/48/docs/Recreation/ODS/Maps/Saylorville%20Map.pdf