Trail Talk
EAGER TO GET OUT ON THE TRAILS… – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – March 2026
AS THE SPRING SEASON rolls around in our local woodland areas, we find ourselves eager to get out to enjoy the trails. How lucky we are to live where trails abound […]
THESE TRAILS BELONG TO ALL OF US – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – February 2026
AS TRAIL PEOPLE, we are wont to point out that trails are as organic as the hillsides and canyons they traverse, climb, descend, and generally meander through. No more permanent in […]
GIFT OF THE SEASON – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – December 2025 / January 2026
“The only goal for man is beauty, and beauty is found only in harmony, and this harmony of nature is a dazzling complexity” ~ Tony Hillerman, Dance Hall […]
HARVEST SEASON IN THE WOODLANDS – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – November 2025
When the white eagle of the North is flying overhead
The browns, reds and golds of autumn lie in the gutter, dead
Remember then, that summer birds with wings of fire flaying
Come to […]
THESE WOODLAND TRAILS ARE YOUR WOODLAND TRAILS – by Bob Budesa
Jacksonville Review – October 2025 Issue
THE WOODLAND TRAILS enjoyed by thousands of people every year are a valuable asset to our community. Whether they’re used for exercise, as a way to escape the everyday hustle […]
CHANGING TRAILS – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – October 2025
TO PARAPHRASE PAPA, “It was a long summer, it was a hot summer, it was a dry summer. It was a long, hot, dry summer.” Weather prognosticators teased relentlessly about possible […]
AWARENESS – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – September 2025
“Who will monitor the consequences of climate change? The inhabitants of the mountains can be caught off guard, but they have an unteachable understanding of their territory, and the small, consequential […]
MAKE SUMMER TRACKS – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – August 2025
AS THIS lonely monologue creeps forth from that quiet place that all trail denizens know so well, our summer doldrums are written largely across the land. We’ve had another spring season […]
THOUGHTS FROM ATOP – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – July 2025
THAT FEELING we get that something or someone is watching us seems to be a residual reaction from our cell memory of living a much more tenuous existence. But it also […]
ABUNDANT ENCOUNTERS – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – June 2025
MAGGIE BARKED just the one time. This was unusual; if there were other hikers or dogs ahead of us, we’d expect a bit more of a serenade. An early morning walkabout […]