Hiking Salina

The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas. They grow as
weeds, wildflowers, along the highways, everywhere.

I recently spent two weeks in Salina, Kansas, the town where I had lived until going away to college and law school. The town has grown, expanded a bit, but I didn't explore new territory all that much. Instead, I explored known territory, on foot. I had enough time to walk around at my own pace. I had grown up in Salina and it's not that big of a town, so I knew it pretty well. I had rode my bike and/or driven around most parts of town, but I had never done much walking.

When you live in a place, you tend to travel the same routes day to day, and go to pretty much the same places. Even when walking familiar routes, you see things differently on foot. You see more - more detail, more perspectives.

There is a levee system that surrounds the town
that has been established as a walking trail. 

The levees aren't particularly high and neither is the threat
of floods, but they make great walking trails around the town.

Old limestone train station. Beautiful structure.

On this walk I did the same thing except I
picked up the levee on the east side of town and
went north and then walked down through the
middle of town back home.

I did a number of walks, but these two maps
represent two of the longest. I started at my
mother's house, walked west to the levee and then
followed it to the north edge of town and then
walked back through the center.

Cottonwood trees

The Smokehill River on the east side of town.

Burr Oak

Green fields of winter wheat under a spectacular sky.

A field of ripe milo, very pretty.

My mother's container garden (left) and
a tree in full fall color across the street.

This section of the levee trail had a new gravel surface.
Those are hackberry trees lining the right of way.

An old gas station on the north side of town.