myumyumyu

I have a pretty terrible sense of direction. In Seoul, I decided to go on a walk along 청계천 (Cheonggyecheon, the stream and park that runs through the city) by myself one night and ended up going the wrong direction at a fork for about 30 minutes before realizing it. All things considered, it was a pretty nice place to get lost. Wandering along the quiet but lighted trail and seeing the not-so-touristy spots was a nice change of pace for a night.

청계천 (March 2012)

Today, the same thing happened and, again, I lucked out by being in another great place to get lost. I was walking along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, an 11 mile bicycle/walking trail that, as its name suggests, goes along the coast of Anchorage. According to Google Maps, I was supposed to walk along it for 2.2 miles as part of a 3.6 mile journey to the barbecue that I was going to. I turned the wrong way at the fork when I got to Westchester Lagoon and wound up on a different side trail, the Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail. I didn't realize this until I had walked over a mile on this trail and realized that the sign no longer said Coastal Trail. Long story short, I backed up, found the right path, and made it to my destination, having turned my walk into 5 miles of wandering around. Luckily, my accidental "scenic route" actually was incredibly scenic.

Watershed, Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

Westchester Lagoon, Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

There were a lot of runners, dog walkers, and others all along the trail. On my way back, I saw a man sitting on a bench at the side of the trail, near the watershed. He was just sitting there, looking out at the water and mountains. As I got closer, I realized he was listening to a radio that he had set down next to him on the bench, and I heard something about a double play. It turns out that he was sitting there listening to a baseball game! What a life.