1. The Beginning - March 14-22

Long walks begin. it’s still cold outside. New hills to limb, trails to explore and a chance for Herbie to more than stretch his legs. I start to see new things. The world isn’t just flying by. Colors emerge. And the cards come out. Games with each other and games with friends - on the internet. Outside, things are quiet. Restaurants are closed. Other stores are closed. Streets serve up parking spaces for the taking.

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Herbie and Denise enjoying the stream along the trail below Summerset.

Down towards Duck Hollow, along Nine Mile Trail, came across this collection of rocks neatly laid out as a retaining wall.
Found this colorful, aluminum-sided building structiure buried in and amongst the bamboo along the trail.
Even before Spring has started, I'm starting to notice emerging color. All our walking starts along Beechwood Boulevard. And walking, of course,, provides you with a lot of time to take in what's in front of you - - like this old wall stone hued in stained green along the sidewalk.
How cool is this? Yellowish/greenish moss embedded in the old stone wall along Beechwood Boulevard.
It's not quite spring on this day - but you can see the buds getting ready to bust out!

The Trail runs between the Mon River and the tracks. Very little train traffic on this route.
Three Rivers Heritage Trail - along the Mon..
Uh - sometimes the trail disappears beneath you...
The Trail conceals a lot of Mon River history. No doubt an old dock from back in the Homestead Mill days.

A little creativity along the way...
Across the river from Sandcastles...
Train bridge crossing the Mon...

... and running towards downtown Pittsburgh
This is as far as we can go on this trail - about 1.5 miles - just about to the Glenwood Bridge....
And we're 6 miles from the Point.
Interesting flora ...