Exploring the World with Pokémon Go: Sylvan Lake
After exploring Sylvan Lake Park in a prior adventure, I decided it was time to go to the part of the park that I had promised would get its own section. Namely the trails that take people over towards Sylvan Lake.
Before I traveled towards Sylvan Lake, the park still had one other corner to check out. Towards the back, past all the soccer fields and tennis courts, there are several more open green areas, this time mostly shaded and in the woods.
Unlike the more open Sylvan Lake Park, this section felt quiet and isolated. And while there were others around me, everyone me included were able to keep to ourselves and enjoy this section of the park all for different reasons. The sound echoed too. In fact, I’ll be mentioning more about that soon enough.
Peace and Quiet
Since I had traveled to the pavilion separate from Sylvan Lake, I decided to walk down the road that would take me to the other side of the park. The trees were pretty in this section. Like all of them if I am being honest.
Like so many other sections of the park, this place had a special sort of quiet and isolation to it. And clouds were brewing overhead at the time causing the wind to blow harsher as the walk went on. I wish I could have recorded it. Part way through, to stand still and take it all in. The experience was worth it.
Exploring a Trail
At long last I was near Sylvan Lake. This section still continued that trend of quiet and peaceful spaces. The entire trail that was. The back part of the park has another trail to give a visitor a proper and good tour of the swamp land nearby Sylvan Lake.
If you have read some of my prior posts, you already know that board walks over swampland are one of my favorite trail features. Honestly its probably something about bridges and tunnels that I like. Different perspective of places I might ignore otherwise.
I saw a couple more pavilions along the way. They were already in use though. So I passed them by as to not only leave whatever they were doing to relax alone, but to keep random people out of my blog pictures. I don’t want to be in some person’s random pictures and I extend the same courtesy.
Boardwalks a Plenty
The boardwalk near Sylvan Lake and the swamplands feeding into it were quite a place to check out in person. I wish the lighting in those pictures was better. It looks real dim but the lighting was perfect when I was visiting.
Something else that stuck out in this section that I didn’t see in the other half was the nice looking houses just across that water. I imagine the land value must be high over here. Access to a lake and massive park complex without having to drive would be a massive benefit if I lived there. Others I am sure feel the same.
I was glad to see some park benches too. I imagine that unlike the pavilions, this area is intense when sunlight is not hidden by clouds. But on a day like this one, the weather was perfect. Not even any bugs. But those benches don’t go away depending on the weather. They are there to be used year round. Like this park for that matter.
One last section of the trail connected the rest of park to it. This segment took me back into the noisier main park. Some parts of the trial I had actually already taken pictures of in the last post. So I skipped over that section to show you all something new.
I am glad I saved the Sylvan Lake segment of this park to be its own adventure. Doing so let me enjoy the park at my own pace rather than feel like a restrictive timer that had to be rushed through. While I do write about these adventures, the actual hikes are therapeutic for me and sometimes its best that I stay out there as long as I can.
Pokémon Go
My first visit to Sylvan Lake Park was an effective use of Pokémon Go adventuring time. But how did the back half hold up? Remember, sometimes sections of the park I have visited are inconsistent with spawns. That issue tends to increase exponentially when trails are involved. If you are still reading this and not laughing, go ahead and look at the picture above.
There are tons of spawns, and while not nearly as numerus as in the other section of Sylvan Lake Park, Sylvan Lake still did a good job keeping my inventory topped off and with lots of Pokémon to catch all around.
Several routes originate from this section of the park. Not to mention there is a nest here. When I visited it was Ducklet. I even caught a shiny one. It will probably be something else when you visit but that’s ok.
Eggs
I hatched plenty of eggs on my adventure around Sylvan Lake. Unfortunately the hatches were mostly just stardust. Nothing stood out except the Wimpod which did an additional benefit by providing candy for its evolution. Maybe next time I’ll hatch better Pokémon.
I tried taking a picture of my buddy while exploring. And its back to Zygarde by the way, but the pictures crashed the game and I decided it wasn’t worth trying to salvage at that point. Maybe next time.
Hey look its me in a bright pink shirt. I like that shirt. But the trail nearby Sylvan Lake was even better. I know I said it before, but I’m glad that I decided to split this section off from the rest. Its clear based on how I was feeling the last time I was here, that I would not have enjoyed it as much.
I’m looking for new places to explore. Lots of the trails and parks right around the corner have been explored already. But not all. And there are plenty more places to check out once I go about five miles away in any direction. Look forward to whatever I may find.