Day 25: Cedar River Trail: Renton to Maple Valley and back

Highlights:

Back in the saddle again with air quality at 154 (unhealthy for sensitive groups) and both my N95 (for smoke) and cloth (for Covid) masks ready for action.

On the real Camino, I would have walked 14.7 miles on Day 25 from Villafranca to La Faba, drinking in captivating mountain and valley scenery on heather-lined earthen tracks, and savoring the shade of chestnut trees. 

Day 25 of my Faux Camino was not that idyllic.  While the smoke was better, a pall of dirty air still made the sky heavy, and visibility, while improved, was still limited.   I started the Cedar River Trail in Renton, literally right beside the sprawling Boeing campus.  I have always enjoyed seeing airplanes at rest and chuckled at the sign that warned pedestrians that this was a car, truck and airplane crossing.

Cedar River is long and shallow and duck couples were everywhere as I made my way towards Maple Valley in the first few miles of trail that was punctuated frequently with walker’s bridges to urban roads.  Unfortunately, after 3 miles, the trail ran parallel to Maple Valley Highway and it was LOUD!!!  A friend called me on my cell, and I kept having to walk far away from the road to hear anything she said. 

The noise challenge was followed by the construction challenge where the trail detoured onto the shoulder of the highway, which made it even louder.  Despite all this, the Cedar River Trail kept leading back to lovely views of the river alternately calmly flowing or bubbling with low rapids.  I passed a Men’s Club – a golf course but I saw women there so was confused, and the Renton Rowing Club which had very (very) long boats stacked and waiting for their next use.  I was given some hope as I passed a large pewter-colored abstract boat statue by the river that had a "We're all in this together!" plaque.  

There were very few fellow travelers today, but I did see one cyclist also sporting an N95 mask and (I thought) we gave each other a special wave.

After 8.5 miles, I turned around, and knowing that I was returning to construction and the noisy highway, plugged in my earphones to listen to podcasts.  But first, I clicked on the link my darling husband had sent me this morning:  Beethoven’s Ode to Joy Flashmob. I turned up the volume.

I was transported back to a hot summer Saturday in Toronto in 1990, when my son was three and I was singing with the Toronto Mendelssohn Symphony Chorus. We were performing this piece on Ontario Place’s revolving outdoor stage in the park.  My son yelled: “That’s my Mommy!” before we started, which made me proud. When the Flash mob got to the choral part, I was surprised that the power (and well, joy) of this music, made me burst into tears.  Fortunately, with my N95 mask, sunglasses, and hat, even if anyone had passed me on the trail, they wouldn’t have been the wiser. 

I completed 15.8 miles today and felt accomplished but foot weary. My feet have mostly healed because of the imposed “smoke break”, but I managed to acquire two new inter-toe blisters that made the last few miles of today’s pilgrimage a tad grim.  Tomorrow, I will start at the other end of the trail and do a loop to finish it off.

To be honest, after almost a week off and the shift in light from the coming season change, my enthusiasm for this pilgrimage has slightly waned. I found myself wondering if I will do a total of 31 days, taking me to what most think of as the end of the Camino at Santiago del Compostela -- 485 miles,  or make it all the way to Finisterre and then Muxia at the coast – which would represent 559 total miles.

I realize that making such a decision with an attitude of diminished enthusiasm is not prudent so I will see what tomorrow brings. I need to put my heart into finding some more glorious trails to finish this quest, even if it means traveling a bit further from home.   Tomorrow the air quality is forecasted to be 98 (moderate) so much improved. 

Thanks for returning to reading my blog and ¡Buen Camino!