The Bald Eagle Trail - Greensboro, NC
“Luck is believing you’re lucky.” - Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.” - Ray Charles, 1969 song If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck
The Story -
On Saturday afternoon, Ginger, Natalie, Sophie, and I hiked almost five miles on the out and back Bald Eagle Trail located alongside Lake Higgins in Greensboro, NC. With the much anticipated Snowmageddon of January 2022 expected to arrive on early Sunday morning, it was wonderful to spend a few hours outside on the trail before the inevitable cabin fever sets in on Monday.
Spill the Tea -
The Bald Eagle Trail is an easy hike through a dense forest skirting the shores of Lake Higgins, providing beautiful views and scenery for hiking, trail running, and mountain biking. We started at the trailhead at the Lake Higgins Marina off Hamburg Mill Road yet there are multiple trailheads to choose from for different experiences.
Ducks, Geese, Eagles, & Downed Trees -
The Bald Eagle Trail offers ample opportunities to view waterfowl and possibly a bald eagle, the trail’s namesake. We did see several rafts of ducks on the water and flocks of geese in the air, yet we did not see a bald eagle or any nests in the trees. This is possibly due to the vast number of downed trees along the trail, perhaps casualties of a post-Christmas winter storm in the area. The trail is remarkably clear of debris, however, the result of a lot of obvious recent hard work.
Gnomes and Adirondack Chairs -
The trail offers many items of special interest, and we did happen across a gnome in a tree and several Adirondack chairs conveniently placed in multiple spots near the water’s edge. Gnomes are generally known as symbols of good luck (more thoughts on luck below), yet this ingeniously hidden one gave Ginger quite a scare. The chairs allowed us a few moments to sit, rest and admire the peaceful Lake Higgins. Numerous boardwalks, creek crossings, bike jumps, and remnants of an old above-water gas pipeline now buried under the lake are other items of special interest you will find.
Wrap It Up -
The Bald Eagle Trail is yet another hiking gem found in the Triad and definitely worth a visit, especially if you live in Greensboro and the surrounding areas. Let me know if you find the gnome!
Luck - Fact or Fallacy?
Finding a gnome on the trail led me to think more about the idea of luck and the role it plays in our daily lives. How many times a day do we normally wish someone good luck on something - a task, test, meeting, or a sports match? It rolls off our tongues easily, normally without much thought and usually with the best intentions.
But what is luck and is it a good thing to wish to someone? Luck is defined by Webster as success or failure brought by chance rather than through one's own actions or skill. In that light, perhaps wishing someone good luck could be seen as an underhanded statement. A thoughtless way to imply someone is not prepared for the task at hand and needs some additional help above their own skill level. In our efforts to be polite by saying something nice, are we actually saying something quite derogatory? I've never thought of it that way. What do you think?
Also, have you ever wondered why some people seem to have better luck than others? Could it be truly chance? Richard Wiseman, a British psychologist, has studied this phenomenon and proved that some people are actually better at influencing their luck than others. How so you ask? Wiseman has shown that there are particular patterns all lucky people have in their behavior, lifestyle, and mindset. "Lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, making lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, creating self-fulfilling prophecies via positive expectations, and adopting a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good." He also suggests that good luck and good mood often co-occur and that people who believe themselves to be lucky are often happy and optimistic whereas people who believe themselves to be unlucky may feel anxious and depressed. Interesting.
So while wishing someone good luck is a questionably polite practice, believing oneself to be lucky is a much better indicator of good fortune.
