Trail Talk
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 […]
AWESTRUCK ON TRAILS – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – May 2025
WE SUPPOSE AT TIMES that it’s the unexpected that catches our attention. On a recent Spring day, as folks in camouflage spread across the grassy hillside, the juxtaposition of urban grays, […]
TIME TO BE OUT AND ABOUT – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – April 2025
WITH ANOTHER merry spring upon us, we’re wise to consider the simple message from Melanie Safka. She writes, “sometimes when we feel as big as the land and we lie back […]
IN THE MOMENT – by Clayton Gillette
Trail Talk – March 2025
THAT NOTION that we might one day travel to that blank spot on the map, to explore where others have not gone ahead of us, is a fantasy that draws so […]