Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day! (that one’s from the musical, ‘Oklahoma’ 😊)
This picture is from our campground on the way out for the day. We couldn’t believe how many geese took up residence there! This is just a small sample because they always ran away from us. I’m certain there were at least 100!
We took a scenic drive around the Oneonta, New York area. Along the way, we saw only a few homes, a rafter of turkeys (that’s what a group of them is called) and a cat walking with a pony (or maybe vice-versa). I also lost the pen I keep in the Jeep for notes, to the great abyss (aka black hole) between the seats. Sigh . . .
We drove over mountains and through valleys on winding roads sprinkled with farms here and there – some old, some newer.
And then we went to college. Hartwick College to be exact. A very nice looking local institution – especially this time of year. The place is surrounded by trees and woods and nearly at peak leaf season. What a lovely place to attend!
We were there for a trail. Table Rock. We located it at the back corner. There was a gate and a sign stating we couldn’t go on it. But guess what? We did anyway – willfully disobedient children that we are.
A running student passed us, but apparently didn’t turn us in, as no campus police were waiting for us when we exited. Whew!!
We were expecting views of the area, but couldn’t see much. However, we saw more wildlife congregated in this little area than anywhere else we’ve been! Deer, gray squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, and other various birds!
This was our only view from the trail.
Blaine’s taller and could see better than I. : )
They have an observatory right beside their soccer field
One of the dormitories on the campus. Nice, huh?
Next up, Wilbur Park. It’s a city park. We had no idea it was so large!
There were three colored trails – red, blue and yellow. The yellow ones were deemed connecting trails, so we weren’t particularly interested in those. We decided to start out on the red and come back on the blue since the two came together at a point.
Or at least, that’s what the map showed. It’s a good thing Blaine took a picture of it before we headed out.
I put this in just to show you how the two trails come together on the map.
They didn’t in real life.
Not that you care, but I didn’t want any doubters out there. : )
This is the Red Trail
We discovered why this trail was so named. “blood” because with all the leaves covering the trail, we tripped a couple of times over buried roots or rocks (but thankfully, no blood for us today!), “sweat” because it was a warm day and without the leaf protection, we got a bit warm, and “tears” because we were frustrated a few times at the trail markings – even with a map!
View from what we thought was the end of the trail.
This was taken at the end of our hike. It’s the start of the blue trail.
All in all, it was still a good little hike. Before we started, we’d seen lots of dog walkers around the ‘non-trail’ part of the park, but no one was on the trails.
Good day! Beautiful day!