Prairie Spirit Trail - Princeton to Garnett, KS round trip

Since we both had Good Friday off from work, we decided to go ride another portion of the Prairie Spirit Trail. In 2013, we had ridden from Ottawa to Princeton. We decided to pick up where we left off and do the Princeton to Garnett round-trip leg.

At the Princeton trailhead. 



It wasn't as cold as the first time we rode this trail, but there was still enough nip in the air that we needed jackets and gloves. The bathrooms and water fountains at Princeton and Richmond had not been un-winterized yet; however, the depot at Garnett was open for both of those amenities.

Coming into Richmond from the north.



Closeup of a couple of disused buildings, possibly a garage of some sort back in the day.



The tunnel where the trail passes under Hwy 59 just south of Richmond. Can see the Richmond elevator in the distance.



At several points there were the remnants of the base of the old railroad signposts.  And that's him spitting in the hole. Because that's what guys do, I guess.



The bridge that crosses over Pottawatomie Creek shows this low-water crossing on what appears to be a farm field access road. Hope that's all the road is used for, anyway!



The trail passes right beside Garnett Lake, and Mustang Man gave me my Carroll Shelby/Shelby Cobras history lesson on the significance of this lake and the road that encircles it. He even sent me this link when we got home, so I felt obliged to include it here. According to him, and he knows a lot more about sports cars than I do, it was "a very pivotal race in their history."  Standing there looking at the road in person, I said to him, "They raced cars on this?  Isn't it kind of narrow? And really close to the water?" Seems this link says the exact same thing: "First of all it is very narrow, I think passing would have been very difficult.   Beyond that it all looks very dangerous, it would seem to me you could easily end up in the lake or off the dam (which is a long way down)."

So, for posterity, and because it has meaning to him, here's my guy in front of the road that Carroll Shelby raced Shelby Cobras on.





Welcome to Garnett sign in the same vicinity.

After passing by the swimming pool and crossing Park Road, the trail surface becomes paved all the way to the depot.

This part of the trail is lined with these lampposts that from a distance I thought were some cool Japanese-inspired square design.  As it turned out, upon getting closer, it became apparent they are actually vandalism-inspired round globes with protective metal cages over them.  LOL  Hey, whatever works.

You pass by the town water tower.

With this little nugget of wisdom added to the stop sign.  Sound advice.

Soon you arrive in the downtown area



With the stately courthouse taking center stage in the town square. It's certainly a much more aesthetically pleasing structure than the drab gray cinderblock-looking one in our county.



The trail crosses an active railroad track onto the grounds of the old Santa Fe Depot, which serves as the trailhead, where you are welcomed by a little red caboose.



Celebrating making it to our destination! (Now we just have to turn around and ride the same number of miles back to our car.) LOL

Before we headed back, we did go into the depot to use the facilities, fill up our water bottle, and have some more fun with the camera self-timer.

Total round trip miles:  32

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