Hiked the lower 4.5 miles of the Ray Roberts Green Belt Trail on Tuesday. Was perfect weather. Made it almost to the FM 428 access point, stopped within sight of it. 4.5 miles was my turn around point, however.

For those unfamiliar, the Ray Roberts Green Belt Trail is a multi-use trail which runs from Lake Lewisville to Lake Ray Roberts, along the Elm Fork Trinity River. Between 9.5 and 11.5 miles depending on how you measure. Trail is largely flat and straight. And, made of compressed limestone. The lower half of the trail is fairly covered. The northern half is mostly open and through cattle fields. The trail has several interesting scenic points, including access to the river and few interesting bridges/trestles. This is the only trail where I have used my REI Flex-lite chair; the few resting points and the hard trail make it useful. Helpful tip, there is a bench near the 7 mile marker (the markers start in the north and go south).

Did not see as many hikers/bikers as I expected for a nice day. Only saw a few armadillos and a lot of butterflies. Saw more boaters and fishers than I had in the past. The parks department was active on the trail and servicing winter damage.

The lack of foliage on the trees but almost neon green undergrowth was interesting, almost gave everything an upside down effect as it appeared the foliage was below and the roots were reading up into the sky. Was interesting looking at the normally covered underbrush/tree trunks, made the side trails to the river much more visible. The recent rain had set some of the side streams flowing and there were several nice marsh spots.

Would like to know what is staring at me from the trunk.