Some Sun, Some Clouds (Hiking Allegany State Park's Christian Hollow Trail and Steeners)

6:45

7:22

I arose (like  the Greek God, Zeus) just as the sun was beginning to climb above the horizon at 6:45.  It looks like a decent day, temperature at the moment is 46º, the high in the 60's later in the day.  Not sure what today will bring, probably the usual, yoga, some reading, some organizing or working, inside or out.

Hike Ready

Yesterday morning was different as I did not go to yoga, as we decided to change our routine, avoid that rut of sameness. So we left for the Allegheny State Park (third largest in the US, 97 square miles) around 10:15, back packs filled with hiking necessities (supposedly), water, almond butter and jelly sandwiches, maps, compass, Ben's tick repellent, a Gerber tool/knife, a reflective space blanket, and most important, bear spray.  Wow, am I prepared! What happened to just a lazy, fun, easy innocent walk in the woods, no fear, no needs, just a path, a pair of shoes, and a friend.

Spring Hiking Trails

Ready For Bear

Too Many Choices

Anyways, the ride, as I expected, took forty five minutes (44 miles) to the Art Roscoe Center, in the northeast section of the park.  This is where most of the trails are located, for hiking or cross country skiing, and there are many choices of various lengths.  We have hiked the Patterson and The Stone Tower Trails in the past, so we decided on Christian Hollow this time, a four mile loop, with a Vista of the Allegany Valley midway.  It was a perfect day for a hike, in the 50's, sunny, no breeze and not a soul, just us and the sound of the tap, tap, tapping of an occasional woodpecker.  And, as we assumed, nothing yet was in bloom, so the trees were bare, the ground covered with leaves from the fall, the color, brown, brown, brown, with a blue sky if we looked up through the limbs, but it was still exhilarating to be out in the woods once again.  Both of us felt this way, excited to be hiking in this grand forest.  The trail followed the rim of a promontory, leading out to the Vista, then back, with steep drops on the side, leading down to the valley.  It was an easy hike out to the Vista, where we relaxed, had lunch, took photographs, enjoyed the sun.  The hike back was a little longer, about 50 minutes, so the hike was less than four miles I would guess.

Confusing!

We stopped at the Administrative Building, overlooking the lake, built in 1929, a few years after the park was created by the New York Legislature in 1921.  It's a grand Tudor style stone building, with various meeting rooms, a gift shop, and restaurant, open during the warm months.  Although we have been in the park numerous  times, we never knew this building existed.  We browsed a bit, took some photos, enjoyed their exhibition of birds and animals of New York, before heading home.  We were home by  3:00.

Casino From Bridge

Stow Ferry From Bridge

Evie took advantage of the late afternoon, to paint one more of the mirror frames for our bedrooms.  It was warm enough, in fact, to paint it outside.  We then got cleaned up because Ron and Linda were back in town and we were going to Steeners' Pub, once again, because it was wing night.  They came over at 6:00 and got a tour of our newly painted bedrooms and Linda, of course, was ecstatic about the colors, as I had hoped.  I gave her a hug of thanks after the tour.  Interestingly, she brought over an article from yesterday's Pittsburgh Gazette, which explained how to make peameal bacon, one of our favorite breakfast foods.  The only place to buy it around here is The Lighthouse but it looks easy enough to make, so we make give it a try.

We were lucky to find bar corner seats at Steeners Pub when we arrived, and settled down, for a few beers, wings, and conversation.  My wings were the best, the chef's special sauce made up of various other sauces.  Linda ordered a burger, Evie and Ron medium wings.  The food was good, especially the fries.  The restaurant was crowded, everyone enjoying wing night (10 for six bucks), and of course the great fries.  We were home by 8:30, in time for a dish of ice cream, and a fast forward through the various acts on American Idol.  We were both in bed by 10:30, the end of a good day.