Kitty, ready trail runners

TUNICA, Miss. -- I turned the corner on the muddy trail and came across a deer about 40 yards away. Soon it was two, three, and by the time the last white tail bobbed out of sight, there had been six of them.

A storm had passed through in the early morning. I waited it out and then drove over to the Riverpark, since I didn't have a poker tourney I planned to play today.

When I drove up to the parking lot, I noticed an old muddy road with a birdhouse tacked up near the road. I made my way back over there, but decided the road/trail was too muddy for my regular running shoes.

So I went to Plan B.

I always carry a pair of old Adidas Trail Response trail running shoes in the trunk of my car, mainly because there's no need for them in heavily-concreted Atlanta. I used to run trails when I lived in Arkansas, and briefly when I first moved to Georgia five years ago. (I was heavily tempted to break those shoes out and run when I was in Blairsville last Friday).

I ran along the old road, slushing around rain puddles. I saw another wooden bridge and ran to it, thinking it was for the horse trail nearby. I ran to it but it was actually the Riverpark trail. I wandered up off of it and that's where I saw the deer, and a huge snakeskin that had been discarded long ago.

I ran back to the road and found a large green field that I had seen alongside the Riverpark. I thought it was grass, but it turned out it was some kind of huge field of clover. Bright green like some kind of HD commercial.

I ran back on the trail to get back to the car.

It was nice to walk through the lobby of the hotel wearing shorts and mud all over the bottom of my legs, shoes and socks. A sign of a good workout.

Tunica -- Riverpark Trail

After a few hours' sleep after playing at the Grand Casino, I got up and looked outside-- it was all wet outside.

So instead of having a bunch of gamblers seeing this wet cat running around, I drove to the Tunica Riverpark, a postmodern museum that overlooks the mighty Mississippi River.

On my last trip, I saw a sign that said it had a "Nature Trail," and thought that might be a good place for a future run.

The river trail stretches for 1.9 miles round trip.

It's pretty nice. It starts out along the riverbank, then goes inland over a wooden boardwalk and then into the forest and around a lake. There were plenty of birds chirping when I went and it was amazing that you could get away from the manmade attractions in the area.

Trail impassable

TUNICA, Miss. -- Today I ran along the road that leads to the Riverpark. As I came back, I cut through the dirt roads that lead to the riverpark trail. When I passed one of the boardwalks on the loop, I noticed that part of it was covered in water.

No problem, since I was traveling the other direction to go back out the front of the trail. But right at the end of the big boardwalk near the start of the trail, the sidewalk that connects to it was covered in water.

Not a lot, maybe ankle deep. I could have run through it but wet shoes would not be so nice to 1). run with on Sunday and 2). lug through airports on my way home. So I turned around and hoofed it back, nearly the way I came.

I took a shortcut through the green grove to the other dirt road. Along the way I noticed deer footprints -- they must have been running the same way that I did.

The Riverpark in spring

TUNICA, Miss. -- Eagerly looked forward this morning to running in the Riverpark's Waterfront Trail.

I wasn't disappointed. It was so different from when I was here last in January. A storm must have come through. Mud washed all over the sidewalks. In the preserve you could see plenty of trees down.

And water came just under the boardwalks, which made me a little concerned as I ran over it. But everything was really green.

The weather was nice and it was neat to get my A4s muddy. I saw two deer as I entered the loop part of the trail. One part was still flooded, so I had to walk up and over a muddy berm, hoping there were no snakes nearby.

It was pretty neat again to be running alongside the mighty Mississippi. It's always a treat to visit a trail months later and compare seasons.

Day 1,841: Return to the Riverpark!

After 3 years and 7 months, I finally made a return to the Tunica Riverpark. Instead of having to run in casino parking lots, it's been a great place for me in the past to get in a 2-mile run on a nice trail through woods.

This time around, there was an added bonus: It was filled with geocaches. I drove over there in the crisp morning. It was about 36 degrees out. I bundled up appropriately!

I didn't park where I'd normally parked, opting for a slightly longer run along the river.

I don't think people have been around this nature trail for a while because the first thing I noticed was long pieces of animal droppings on the boardwalk. There was water underneath the boardwalk but not the flooding that I saw in 2008.

The trail has been upgraded from just a path to one with nice little pebbles that possibly could be traversed with a wheelchair.

It was cold and in the end I got a 3.5-mile run in along the entire complex.

Time: 9 a.m.
Temp: 32 degrees
Gear: Technical T-shirt, long (x2), running pants, gloves, Marmot windbreaker, Adidas running shoes.