I had planned to enjoy many nature walks through the bird migration season this year, but the acute quad tendon tear in my right knee put a stop to that idea. I had to wear a knee splint for 8 weeks and since I’ve been working on building strength in my leg muscles.

The other day when my friend Hobie stopped by to pick up a copy of Issue 4 of the Squeeze Box Man graphic novel, I suggested next week we meet up early one morning at Lambton Woods for a nature walk. I’ve tested my knee on uneven ground by taking The Partners to the Etobicoke Valley leash-free park a couple times. While I’ve had to be quite careful on the roughest path, I’ve managed that little adventure reasonably well. In my mind, I’m ready for longer walk, and I thought Lambton Woods, along the Humber River, would be perfect.

This morning I decided to drive over there and walk the loop from the parking lot, through the woods to the rail trestle then back along the river, just to make sure I can handle this walk OK.

There were several cars already in the parking area when I arrived at 8:20 this morning, and I did see a number of walkers and cyclists, but it wasn’t really very busy and certain social distancing was not an issue.

As it turned out, the Lambton Woods loop is a perfect place to gently challenge my knee. This spot often has a variety of mushrooms growing and I was hoping after the big rain the other day to see some fresh mushrooms along my walk, but in fact I didn’t see any fresh mushrooms fruiting at all this morning.

Walking on uneven ground and up and down hills, I could feel the muscles working.

By the time I got back to the car, I could really feel the muscles in my right leg, and now that I’m home, sitting down, they’re a bit sore. The good thing is I know I can handle a walk of this length, and I can handle the uneven ground of a forest trail pretty well.