Weston Bend State Park: A Short Hike and a Small Summer Adventure

My husband and I have done very little traveling since the pandemic hit. Health issues (non-Covid-related) and shut-downs have kept us close to home. This past Memorial Day weekend, the weather was perfect, and we didn’t want to be cooped up in the house. We were determined to find something to do outside, so we pulled out our guides of places to go near Kansas City.

Weston Bend State Park in Platte County, Missouri, is about 45 minutes from our house. We had an old guide book that described a few trails in the park. We’d last been to Weston Bend in June 2020, during the early days after the pandemic shutdown. On that occasion, we’d only been out for a drive. We stopped at the overlook of the Missouri River, which is a very short walk from the parking lot. This time, we packed a picnic lunch and hoped for a bigger adventure.

We drove to the overlook parking and found a picnic table under the shade of some maple trees. Then we ate our sandwiches and cookies with great gusto. After walking to the overlook and peering at the Missouri River (which is hard to see through the trees), we decided to brave a trail.

My husband had back surgery last August, and his back pain had kept him from doing much walking during the year before his surgery. He hadn’t been on a real trail for more than two years. Our last little hike had been at Line Creek Park in March 2021, and that had been on a gravel trail. Before that, we’d been to Hodge Park in April 2020, but I recall that trail as being entirely flat.

Our old (1995) map of Weston Bend State Park showed little few details of the trails, and we hadn’t hiked in the park before. Still, I managed to find a little loop that started and ended at the overlook. We set out on the West Ridge trail, which was quite level and well-maintained and had a surface of packed earth. There were tree roots to avoid and uinderbrush to dodge, so there was some challenge to it. From the initial level stretch, we turned onto the Harpst Valley Trail, which was mostly downhill. When we reached the bicycle path through the park, we rested on a bench, then hiked uphill on the Harpst Pass Trail back to the overlook.

The whole loop was under tree cover, so it was cool. This early in the summer, Missouri isn’t too humid and the bugs aren’t bad yet. A perfect day for a hike.

My husband was a little shaky, and it’s a change for me to find myself the faster and stronger of the two of us as we hike. He used to follow me to prod me along. This time, I had to pause frequently to wait for him and to be sure he didn’t trip on the protruding roots.

All told, we may not have hiked even a mile. Still, it was an adventure, and we both enjoyed it. It tired us out enough and the weather was warm enough that we decided we should treat ourselves to chocolate milkshakes. A perfect start to the summer.

What have you done so far this year to mark the beginning of summer?