Dragoon Trail Romp

Today was a rainy day here. Not that you would hear anyone complain about that, as dry as we have been. Being that I had the day off I came up with an idea to spend some bike time, and do a good deed, at the same time. You see, each year there is an event here called The Dragoon River Romp. It is a day where some cool and concerned individuals work up and down the river, and pick up any and all garbage that other, free minded individuals are too lazy to dispose of properly. Cans, bottles, tires, freezers, -no kidding -CARS!!! This is a very cool concept, but they only do it for one day, and it's always on a Saturday, which is a day I take off only twice a year. The thought occurred to me to ride the High Trestle Trail with a garbage bag in hand and stop to pick up any garbage that I could see from the trail. I figure I could still contribute something, and this trail is too cool to be a littered up mess.

 Now I had a size minimum. I wasn't going to stop for cigarette butts (probably the most commonly littered item world wide) or gum wrappers. That's just too much on and off for me. So I set off to ride from Madrid to Woodward, stopping to pick up after the people who are too short sighted to do so for themselves and others. I found mostly plastic containers and wrappers, lots of beer cans, and some glass bottles. Styrofoam is also a common litter item, and there was plenty of it to be seen too. It worked out great to arrive at the trail head in Woodward, since there is a handy-dandy recycling center there. I simply rolled up, sorted the glass, plastic, and metal, and threw the rest in the garbage can. Turned around and rode back to Madrid while enjoying the newly improved scenery. Now this is an idea that I could easily expand upon. Like possibly combining this frame of mind with the concept of a Casey's Crawl? Ride from Woodward to, say Huxley, and pick up litter along the way. Dispose of the junk at each Casey's, grab some refreshments, and ride on. Could be fun I suppose. Must remember to ride a bike with a kickstand next time! Later!

Now that the trail has started to mature as a system it is cool to see what people want to do with it. This bench and deck was integrated into an old rail road signal station. The plaque on it says it is In Loving Memory of Ruth Ramsey. It also had this cool old concrete pole, with a small geocacheing capsule attached to it. I signed in and left my blog address. ("Hi" to you if you're here after seeing it.) 

Also, I found five small trees along the side of the trail that were unusual to me. They were only about four inches in diameter at their bases, and had these fruits hanging on the branches. The fruits look like plums inside, and have a pit too. Not sure what they are, but it was interesting.