I went on a very pleasant adventure yesterday helping a group of Philyfitters complete a point to point run. The group met at the Northwestern Avenue entrance to Forbidden Drive. They ran the length of Forbidden Drive then continued on the bike-run-walk trail to Kelly Drive and on to Boathouse Row and the Art Museum where we picked them up and drove them back to their cars.
If you've ever run or walked along Forbidden Drive you know that it is a very quiet, mostly gravel trail along the Wissahickon Creek. As you follow its meandering path it's easy to get lost in the feeling that the area is remote and separate from the rest of the world. This is likely why so many enjoy this trail. The creek, the trees and the gravelpath give an illusion of solitude. Sure there are other people, sometimes a horse or two and the ever present geese but not the noise of traffic and other activity we've come to expect on a daily basis.
Driving folks back and forth between their start and their finish I was struck with just how close this oasis is to the "real world". As I crossed over Bells Mils Road and the entrance to Valley Green, I realized just how close we were to the trail. Yet when we run there it's so easy to forget and get lost in the run or the walk. And for that I am grateful. We should all be able to take a break from life .... even for an hour or a couple of hours each week.
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