This was the coldest day I'd end up going out on an adventure so far. This is also one of those rare times I decided to dress for colder weather and I'm glad I did. The plan was to get down to the starting point of the entire West Orange Trail and complete what was for me the end. To go from Killarney Station to Herriage Center.
I’m rather glad I did not start this entire trail at this point. I think that would have discouraged me from coming back time after time over many weeks to slowly work on different sections of this trail. I also would not have found the favorites that I used to help build up some endurance to go out further on other adventures that happened long after this one.
There is also a reflection that I'm glad I did not attempt to finish up to Killarney Station back when I was out at the Heritage Center Trailhead. The start at Killarney Station ended up being quite a rough one. I’m glad I finished this thing off. At least as far as someone walking can if you exclude the bike trail sections.
I was also hoping Killarney Station led to another direction of this trail. Funny enough while there i could not find it. It turns out there was no sign of it starting here. It might be something I go off and explore at some point. However, for now, this is my last of any Orange Trail as there are so many other locations.
Killarney Station itself has a bike rental shop and some alternative overflow parking as well. I did some looking around but since I don’t ride a bike these days I did not stay long.
I could tell this was going to be quite a rough section of the trail. Even the parking lot was on a massive hill. There was a huge highway nearby with lots of not-so-fun road crossings along the way. If I had started here, I might have gotten the wrong impression that this is what the entire trail would be like. Thankfully it was not and many other sections of the West Orange Trail.
I’m also thankful I got to go up this hill fresh and ready to take on this last section. It was also nice at the end to walk down it knowing that was the end as well. Despite getting into better shape over these past couple of months I still find elevation gains to be quite challenging in the fact I usually need a short rest from something like this.
This would not be the only hill as well. At least the others were not so much elevation gain at once. Some of them you would even dip into a bit. While there were sometimes some trees and other things the starting section of this area was along a lot more road than I would have liked.
It's stuff like this that makes me not want to go back to this section. There were some roundabouts and other sections to get across. There was also a real lack of warning systems that other sections of the trail have where you can trigger flashing lights before crossing over. We even had to stop in the middle as someone was in a hurry to pass.
It’s also no shock to me when someone is on a bike, they just rush right through these sections. I’m just thankful I've not seen anyone on a bike get hit yet. It, however, happens more often than you think. It’s no shock as they don’t slow down, look, or even attempt to stop.
This trail even has a bridge that takes you over a massive highway that it appears they are working on expanding. Not the kind of trail I enjoy much but it was quite a different view at the very least. I was more than happy to get away from the loud sounds of cars and trucks driving under this bridge, to say the least.
At this point in the trip, the cold of the was starting to set in. My fingers were quite freezing and to stay warm I kept wanting to push forward. It was also kind of nice that I never felt a need for a break either. Once in a while, a guest of cold air would blow by on the trail making me want to pick up my steps a little quicker.
Not all sections of this part of the trail were terrible. Sometimes you would enter into some tree coverage. Nothing thick like you were in the middle of nowhere. As you were usually next to a road. I was at least thrilled to be away from the busy highway this far in.
On this day I had a goal of making it back to some spots along this trail I already had been to. This last little section was only a couple of miles in total. I ended up wanting to add a bit under two further miles to it. I had a daily goal I wanted to hit and I'm rather glad I did as I ended up seeing something rather cool further down the path.
It’s a shame this is my second time now taking a very quick stop at the nature preserve along this trail. The entire thing when I went on this trip would have been nothing but mud. Lots of heavy rain ensured that and with how much colder I was slowly starting to feel. I had no desire to check to see how bad it was.
After this, it was not much along the trail to a quick little stop at some restrooms before making the journey back to where I started. Usually, at this point, there is not much that I expect to happen. I stop thinking about taking out the phone every so often and at anything I think I might want a photo of.
While the return walk tends to be more fun for me and feels a lot quicker. It turns out I was not done taking photos that day. Shortly after turning around something caught the attention out of the corner of my eye.
I was just as shocked to see one of these down a dirt road that I just had to get a closer look at. I was not expecting to see a peacock just wandering around. Let alone two of them. The first one I noticed ended up turning into someone's backyard. I was not about to chase after it just to get some photos.
That is when I noticed there was a second one! That was the fun of all these trails and adventures I've gone on. You never know just quite what will happen. I ended up sticking around on a dirt road for a while just watching one of the peacocks wander around someone's front yard.
After a while, I was just getting too cold, so I decided it was time to make the trip back. Nothing else as amazing was seen. At least most of the crosswalks were rather empty and that final hill was amazing to go down into the parking lot of Killarney Station.
Final Thoughts
While it had quite an unexpected turn during this last section. I’m rather glad I'm now done with this trail and have moved on to other spots. A month from when I started working on the West Orange Trail, I ended up walking well over 70 miles. While that was not all just from West Orange Trail and sometimes, I'd repeat a couple of sections. For someone who used to spend all day and night just sitting at a computer, that not only was quite a few miles to go. It ended up being one of my higher mile count months.
Down below will be linked to all the different sections of this trail I went on. All of them were like this one. I’d go out to a certain section of the West Orange Trail and then head back to where I started. It would be fun to see one day how far along I could get from one end to possibly the other end. For now, however, I'm onto other adventures.
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Photos were taken and content was written by @Enjar about my personal experiences in the real world away from the computer at home.