The Greenbrier River Trail has been written about by many but some thoughts occurred to me as I spent the last week walking several lengths of it with my German shepherd, Ozark.

From Marlinton south to Stillwell Park I see lots of families enjoying the Trail – a young father pulling a Radio Flyer wagon with a young tyke in tow.  Couples holding hands talking small talk, love talk.  A man who smokes a cigarette as he walks, puffing, strolling, gasping for air.  The sun shines on each of them, they bask in the radiance of the early fall sun knowing these are the last days.

We walk the Trail aimlessly, paying no attention; no gripping of the steering wheel, no using turn signals or waiting for the light to change, no horn honking. Throw away our concentration; abandon stiff shoulders, good manners, and rules.  The Trail is the path to follow when all other paths seem useless, aimless.  The Greenbrier River guards on one side while luxuriant flora embraces from the other side.  Here the mind can run free, no holding back, no containment.  Release.

We say we walk the Trail for exercise, for health but in truth we walk the Trail to escape.  For 30 minutes each morning or an hour each evening, we give ourselves permission to forget the spears thrown and received this day; we loosen the knots that grip our insides and our power, we forgive others and ourselves.

Guarded we need not be for the Northern Cardinal chips away in the birch tree, the gray squirrel shrieks as he tumbles among the oaks, the speckled fawn curled at the forest’s edge waits diffidently for its mother’s return.  All approve us for that amble where we are carefree, untroubled, and unbothered.

Biking along the GRT