Three Hikes

This past week I went on three hikes! I am ever so proud of myself. Nate is into hiking too, which is awesome. I enjoy hiking solo, but it's nice to have someone to hike with, too. Plus my mom freaks out when I hike alone. "But Tricia, why do you have to go hiking in the woods by yourself?" Painful.

Anyway, a week ago Sunday Nate and I hiked up to Hueblien Tower on the Bloomfield/Simsbury town line. It's an easy hike to the top, and when the tower is open you have a 360 degree view.

Here's a shot of the tower (warning, I am not a good photographer):




And here's a shot of what I think is King Philip's Cave:




According to the town of Simsbury website, the Indian leader known as "King Philip" sat in this cave and watched Simsbury burn during King Philip's War in 1676. I haven't yet managed to find a path down to this cave to check it out. The footing is a little too precarious for me. I am an overly cautious hiker (feel better, Mom?).

This past Friday, Nate and I hiked up to Roaring Brook Falls, which is apparently the "highest single drop waterfall" in Connecticut. Very cool. This picture below shows the upper falls, which are smaller than the main waterfall.




A short but steep hike to the top; we followed the orange blazed trail from Roaring Brook road, but one of my hiking books says you can take the blue-blazed trail from off of 42. There were a few tense moments when the sun started to go down and we lost the trail for a bit, but we eventually found the blazes again.

Yesterday, we did a 4.5 mile hike in People's State Forest in Barkhamsted. If you live in Connecticut and enjoy hiking, I highly recommend People's Forest. Of course I forgot my camera on this hike, so I have no pictures, alas! The trail we followed starts out going pretty much straight up a waterfall. I've done this hike in May and November, and each time it was gorgeous, but yesterday the waterfall was frozen and it looked very cool. About 5 minutes into the hike it started snowing very, very lightly, and it continued to flurry throughout the entire hike. The snow never stuck though, and the sun even came out on occassion.

My goal for this summer is to do at least one 10 mile hike. I know this doesn't sound like much, especially considering that some people who hike the Appalachian Trail put in 20 to 30 mile days, but I don't really care. 10 miles is a lot for me! Eventually I want to try an overnight backpacking trip, and maybe hike part of the Long Trail in Vermont. Eventually. As I've established, I'm a big fan of indoor plumbing, so I don't intend on doing too much camping. We'll see.

St. Patrick's Day

Hartford's St. Patrick's Day parade was this Saturday and I let Tom talk me into going. Okay, he didn't talk me into it, I was really quite willing to check it out as I've never been to a St. Patrick's Day parade before. Okay, I really begged him to allow me to hang out with him so I could feel like one of the cool kids. Ain't that right, Tom?

It was sunny and in the 60s, a perfect day for a parade. And if there's anyone to watch a parade with, it's got to be Tom. He brought a backpack full of Bud Light, each can packed in it's own individual baggy of ice. When Governor Jodi Rell walked by, Tom shouted, "We love you, 'cause you're not Rowland! You're not corrupt! That we know of yet!"

Some other good Tom quotes:

"Don't lie to a man with a full bladder!"

"Are you kidding! I feel like a new man now that I've urinated."

"It's hypocrisy and dichotomy. Am I spitting? It's hypocrisy and dichotomy like the world's never seen!"

"Tom is very recognizable in the street." (Yes, Tom referred to himself in the 3rd person.)

After the parade we met up with some peeps out at the bars, including Nate, the aforementioned "great guy" I am dating. Nate and Tom are both red-headed Irishmen and so they bond. Beers and shots of Jameson were had by all. Well, not me, not the Jameson anyway, but by all the red headed-Irishmen.

It was a very enjoyable day. We must do it again next year.