Welcome to the December 31st edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Welcome back to a second dose of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

The last two hikes we have done were a bit weenie. Not by choice, mind you. There has been allot of snow and ice on the trails, and we didn't want to get hurt falling and breaking our necks. This week's hike was not a weenie hike, by any means.



We chose one of my favorite trails this week, the Chatfield Hollow Trail. It begins at the Chatfield Hollow State Park, located about 5 or 6 miles north of the Clinton Malls. This is the same trail that everyone remembers so well when Sof and Deb were stung by all those bees back on September 1st.



Everyone met at the the Chatfield Hollow State Park bright and early. We immediately noticed as soon as we crossed the street that the trail started right there instead of up the road, where it used to be back in September. We were pleased not to have to walk the road, and I'm sure that's why this was done.



There was a short, but very sturdy bridge as soon as we entered into the woods, and we stopped there to snap a picture.

This trail has allot of rock formations, (one of the best rock formations on a trail I have see yet) and there was still quite bit of ice and snow around, so we still had to be careful where we placed our feet. In a few areas it was very slippery, but in most places, we were able to stretch our legs out.



Towards about our loop-d-loop point, we all were starting to feel the affects of taking it easy the last 2 weeks. We all were tuckered out, but we knew we had about 3 or 4 miles of hiking to go. We all were getting tired. At one point, Sof scolded Rob for not looking, (or sounding) tired enough. All in all we did about 9 miles and a hard 9 miles at that. We all were very glad to be back at our cars for lunch.



We ate lunch at CafeNV, and decided to relax inside Starbucks while sipping our lattes and munching on banana-nut bread. Life is good!

We missed you Bobby Goat Gruff,

See everyone next week!
Happy New Year!

Joe

Welcome to the December 24th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Welcome Hikers!

I'm posting our Christmas hike a little late, but here it is...

Since there was a significant amount of ice and snow on the ground that day, we decided to do a very flat hike with not many obstacles. Bluff Point was the perfect choice in this situation.



As it turned out, the first half of Bluff Point was extremely slippery, and we were trying our damnedest not to slip and fall. We were lucky, and didn't, thank-God. The second half of our hike was less slippery than the first, but we were still hiking with stiff legs, making sure.



We did meet a group of three hikers who mentioned that one of them has hiked all of the Blue blazed trails in Connecticut... some 400 or so miles in all. They did mention that Ct's blue trails have since been expanded to about 6 to 7 hundred miles. It was nice to share the love of the outdoors with fellow hikers.



When we were almost back to our cars, we also passed a friend who I work with, Richard, and his girlfriend, who were just starting their hike that morning. We wished them a successful hike, warned them about the ice, and we exchanged our Merry Christmas greetings.

Well, here are the best of the pics from our Christmas hike.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Joe

Welcome to the December 17th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Good Morning Hikers!

This past week we hiked about 5.7 miles through about 4 inches of packed ice and snow. In most places, our weight barely broke the ice under our feet and made our adventure a bit more physically challenging.

As soon as we started into the woods, we realized that it was going to be significantly more difficult to keep on the trail because of all of the snow cover. There was virtually no paths to follow, because we were the only ones crazy enough to venture off into the woods in the first place. We did learn one thing however, whenever we were in doubt on where the trail was going, nine times out of ten we followed the deer tracks. I am convinced that there are far more deer following the blue trail then hikers.



One really interesting thing about this week's hike was all of the exposed deer, bird, squirrel, and dog tracks everywhere. God only knows what other tracks we came across. But they were everywhere. The loose snow made it really easy for us to see where all of our furry friends have traveled the last couple of days. It really was a treat to see all of that.



Without going into further detail, here are the pictures I took during our hike.

See everyone next week.
Joe

Welcome to the December 10th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Good Morning Hikers.

This week, Deb and I were on our own, so we decided to hike somewhat close to home, but not too close...

We were planning on going hiking on Saturday, but we were just too busy, so we ended up doing it on Sunday morning instead.



We got up a little late, and then leisured out of the house at about 10am or so. We were at a Christmas party at Maureen and Brian's house till pretty late, so we really enjoyed the extra time getting ready without having any time constraints. So, we were at our chosen trailhead, located at the intersection of Shetucket Turnpike and Pachaug Trail at about 10:45am, after taking a detour so that Deb can use the facilities at the Pachaug Camping Area.



We headed north, past Dawley Pond, and then over a very thin, and long, double-log walking bridge which crosses a dam at Great Meadow Pond. We snapped some pictures and then continued north. The ground was a little wet, and there was patches of snow cover everywhere, but not over the grass in most places. We then continued on at a fairly quick walking pace on a private dirt road, then over to the Porter Pond camping area. At this point we decided to continue heading north and to lengthen our hike by going up to see the scenic overlook at the end of Pharisee Rock Trail. That added a few extra miles to our planned hike, so we knew we would be pretty tired by the time we were finished.



We reached our midpoint at approximately 1pm, took a few pictures, and then decided to pick up the pace a bit to try to get out of the woods by 3pm. We pretty much maintained our pace and ended up making it back to our car at 10 minutes till 3. All told, we hiked 12.8 miles in about 4 hours, according to the distances published in the Connecticut Walk Book.



I don't know about Deb, but my legs feel it more this week than any other hike we've done.

ok, see everyone next week,

p.s.
We missed everyone this week!
Joe

Welcome to the December 3rd edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Good Morning Hikers,

I'm going to make this week's newsletter short, but sweet, so here we go...

This week's hike we decided to start at Wyassup Lake, hike across RT2, over the Hewitt's Pond Dam Pedestrian Bridge, and towards the Stonington Dump. We turned around short of the dump, at the point at which Rob's pedometer read 4.5 miles. We then did our loop-d-loop and hiked back to Wyassup Lake.



Rob's pedometer read 9.3 miles when we finally reached our cars. Deb was a little nervous beforehand thinking our local adventures were going to be weenie, but we were pretty tuckered out when we got back into our cars. We ate at 84 High St with our good friend Bill, and then we went Christmas shopping, as planned.





ok, see everyone next week,

We missed you Bob,
Joe

Welcome to the November 26th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome Hikers!

This week's hike was a loop-d-loop if there ever was one... or maybe a loop-d-loop-d-loop would be a bit more like it.

On Friday evening, Deb and Sof agreed to conquer Rocky Neck again this week. So that's where we will begin.

We met at 9am on Saturday morning at our usual parking spots at Rock Neck. We stepped out into the 20 to 30 degree temperatures, and we were raring to go. We fitted our gloves, hats, and walking sticks into their normal positions, and before long, we were across the parking lot and into the woods, chatting as we went.



The normal loop around Rocky Neck is probably about 3 to 3 1/2 miles long. Since we usually have been doing about 8 miles per hike, we all followed Rob as he meandered through the trails and the beach a few times until his pedometer read just under 8 miles. We stopped and snapped our pictures at the obvious locations, and we really enjoyed our workout. During our previous 2 hikes we had to be very cautious as we stepped over lots of loose rock, but this hike was very different. We were free to stretch our legs out and take long strides, speeding up our pace. There were few rocks to be careful of. My legs felt much different during lunch this week.



It was a very brisk and lively day outside on the beach. We enjoyed the company of a few groups who passed us, their dogs jumping with glee in the sand. There were also a few couples enjoying the sun in their face and the ocean breeze in their hair, snapping random pictures of themselves. Taking in the glory of the day.



We ate lunch at CafeNV, had our Starbucks, and then shopped at the Crystal Mall a bit before we went our separate ways.



See everyone next week,

We missed you Bob,
Joe

Welcome to the November 19th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome back to another week of hiking adventures.

This past week's hiking adventures ended up to be far from what was expected this time last week...

First off, Bob sent everyone an email in the middle of the week stating that he needed to tie up some loose ends before he was able to continue hiking with us. Deb replied back with the sentiment of everyone in our group saying that we are all rooting for him, and are hoping for his quick return. A hike without our Billy Goat Gruff just wouldn't be the same.

And also, on Saturday evening, Deb got a call from Rob saying that neither of the Noblick's will be able to make the hike this week. A dilemma has ensued! Since Deb and I had plans to meet my brother Rich at his house to help him with some computer issues after our adventures, we invited him to join us. We have averted a catastrophe!

We decided to hike the same trail that I missed a few week's back, the infamous Lantern Hill hike that I heard so much about. Since it was close by, and we needed to be at Rich's house before 12:30, Lantern Hill seemed the perfect choice. Rich, his daughter Ashlyn, and their dog Libby joined Deb and I for a very clear, crisp, and cool day of hiking.



We began our assent up Lantern Hill and ran out of breath fairly quickly. Once we reached the top we took some pictures, and continued on. We eventually made our way toward the North Stonington dump, across the street and back into the woods, and over to the bridge which traverses a small dam. While Libby cooled off in the water, Ashlyn was mentioning to Deb that she would rather turn around and go back then continue to the next hill, as planned. She was not enjoying herself as much as she thought she would have, so we headed back. We eventually made our way back to the dump, where we made another shortcut, and walked the road back to the cars to help make the day as enjoyable as possible for everyone. We definitely didn't do anywhere near 8 or 9 miles like we usually do, but we did get in a good 4 1/2 or 5.



We ate lunch at Rich's house, and played with their computer... It was a very full, and satisfying day.



Next week Deb would still like to do what we planned for this week, that trail in Middletown she found next to the Connecticut Trail and Park Association.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and Happy Hiking,
See everyone next week,
Joe

Welcome to the November 12th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome Happy Hikers!

I have been anticipating a return to Castle Craig for quite some time now, and we finally made good on our return yesterday.

Everyone met in Norwich at Sof and Rob's house at our usual time of 8:30am. Deb and I were a few minutes early, and therefore we were able to arrive a minute or two before Bob, which always makes me happy. :-)

It was a long drive through Norwich, along RT 2 west, and eventually past Middletown and to our parking spot along the side of the road somewhere in Meridan at the trailhead.



We donned our hats, gloves, coats, and walking sticks and started up a short hill overlooking, but hiking away from, the road. We immediately realized that the layer of fallen leaves were covering up all of the loose rocks under foot, making us be more cautious with each step. It was rough on our ankles and I probably should have been wearing boots with more support, but it was too late to be changing shoes now. The trail meandered through numerous rocky hills and valleys which slowed us down quite a bit, but eventually we made our way to the best scenic overlooks in the state, including our walk up to the top of Castle Craig.



After a few pictures, we continued on past the castle towards a part of the trail we haven't seen yet. This part of the trail was just as rocky as before, but with the added bonus of including a 400ft decent through piles of loose rock with a layer of multi-colored fallen leaves on top. It was fairly easy going down, but slippery, sliding on the rocks as we went.

At the bottom, we came across a fairly large 4 way intersection in the middle of the woods which didn't indicate where the trail went off to, so we checked our pedometers and decided to turn around while we still knew where we were. So we began our ascent back up that 400ft pile of rocks and leaves which can only be described as tortuous. Sof and I both agreed that the ascent back up that hill was among the most challenging we have attempted.



Back at the top, close to where Castle Craig is, we saw a pair of turkey vultures looking down at their world below, and I snapped a few pictures of them. They were a bit nervous, but didn't move a bit while we all moved closer and passed them. We eventually made our way back down the other side of the ridge where we came, and to our cars. We ate lunch at Macaroni Grill and then headed home. A very good day indeed.

Deb seems like she has the hike picked out for next week, so
Talk to everyone next week.
Joe

Welcome to the November 5th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Joey has asked me to fill in for him this week because he could not make it but CC did as a pack dog, so I’ll see what I can do. This week we started our hike at Lantern Hill on a cool and breezy morning, climbing to the top to see the beauty of our world. The trees are in there full fall splendor of colors. They looked like very colorful tops of fluffy clouds. The initial immediate climb was a little shock to our system, so we rested a little and moved on. The trail led us down the short side of the hill, through the rolling hillsides, through the North Stonington town dump, across Winectog Hill road, back in to more rolling hillsides, to the dammed beaver pond at Rt. 2.



The ducks unlimited org. has helped to fund a new bridge to cross the waterfall. We then moved on to the last leg of the trail; to our turn around point , up the hill toward Wyassup lake. There was a little confusion as to where the top was , so we went on a little further than we planned, but not far. We did the loopy loop and made our way back. We crossed trails with 3 young ladies going down the back side of Lantern Hill ,through the crevice where we all had little trouble getting up. Most of us were pretty tired by now, because of all of the ups, we have been hiking mostly flat trails lately. We finished the rest of the trail back to the cars.



Debby went home and the rest of us met Jody at chili's for lunch. Well that's all for now, hopefully Joey will do the rest of these news letters.

Uncle Bob

Here are some pictures from our 3 previous hikes...
October 13th @ Wolf Rock



October 21st @ Mount Misery



And October 28th @ Pachaug Trail

Welcome to the September 17th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

This weeks hike was a little wet, but it was not cold, so we enjoyed ourselves. It worked out just fine.

During all of last week, everyone was talking about Bob possibly missing out on the coming hike because he didn't want to miss out on a very important auction. Also, the weather was predicting rain, so we knew that Saturday morning could get interesting.

Deb and I ended up spending Friday evening at Sof and Rob's, taking the edge off with Jean and Paul by the fire. While we were taking the edge off, we were able to set a meeting time at 8am in Norwich to start our hike. But when Saturday morning came, when I was still half asleep, I heard the soft rhythm of the rain drops outside. The predictions of a wet morning were confirmed. I shortly called Sof who suggested to wait until 9am so that we could not only possibly wait for Bob to join us, but also to wait for the rain to have a chance to slow down a bit.

Deb and I arrived in Norwich as planned, and we soon all headed to the trail head after a few minutes of our morning greetings. We eventually parked at the old white church on RT49 and started on our hike. We noticed that there was a sign posted at the trail head which stated it was closed to all hiking from October through March because it's path goes through hunting grounds used by a Groton hunting and fishing club. The sign was placed in a very good place, and nobody was going to miss seeing it.

There was a light sprinkle, and also quite a bit of wet grass to wade through, but we expected that going in. The temperature was warm enough so that if you were moving you were able to stay comfortable, but if you stopped for a considerable amount of time, you started to get cold. The tree cover and the clouds made our surroundings appear dim and at times dark. Also, our surroundings were not ones that permitted many pictures. My camera did get a little wet, and it wasn't long before I decided that I should just give up trying to take them, so I put it in my backpack to keep it dry.

This hike turned out to be very close to about 3 miles in and therefore 3 miles out. Rob's pedometer read exactly 6.00 miles at our finish. At about the 1.5 mile mark, we came across a small, very old stone bridge that supported a dirt road that brought back memories of the last time we were there. Sof mentioned that Uncle Al and Chet was hiking with us that day. It could have been 8 to 10 years ago... And I then remembered resting at that bridge with Uncle Al, admiring the stone work.



After reminiscing at the stone bridge, the trail got interesting. The rocks on both sides of the stream that the bridge had crossed started to get larger. Our trail got steeper, and steeper. Within a very short time, our trail was following the stream on top of a rock cliff about 50 feet high on both sides of the stream. I had put my camera away by this time, so I don't have any pictures, and it was too dark anyway. I indefinitely want to hike this trail again, but we will have to wait until March of next year before we can do that.

At about the 3 mile mark, we came across Green Falls pond and a very attractive stone dam. We rested a bit at the dam, and then headed back.



By the time we got back to our cars, we were pretty wet. And it wasn't long before we realized that our decision not to do lunch right away was a good one. We would not have been comfortable sitting in a restaurant as wet as we were.

We are all going on our Greek trip for about 3 weeks starting on Thursday, so our newsletter won't be very active until we get back. But I am hoping to post something if we end up doing a hike when we are there. I am told we are planning to hike about 2 kilometers, so we will see.

Talk to everyone soon,
Joe

Welcome to the September 10th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Good Morning Happy Hikers!

This week's hike was another hot and humid one. My guess is, we won't be seeing these temperatures again until next year. It won't be long before we will be stripping off our shorts and t-shirts, and putting on jeans and jackets. Also, the leaves are starting to change color and are falling in front of us. I am looking forward to snapping some colorful reds and yellows on our next few hikes.

This week's hike took us out towards Middletown, CT to the Mattebasett Trail. The last few hikes we have been choosing to enter and exit our trails at the same location so we don't have to waist time placing cars at both ends. I think our Loop-Dee-Loops have been working out very nicely.

On the subject of Loop-Dee-Loops, Deb and Sof have come up with trail names for everyone that fit rather nicely. Rob, who is usually up front knocking down all the spiderwebs is our "Point Man, or Spiderman." We call Bob our "Bobby-Goat-Gruff," because he is always rough and tumbly. I'm the "Flasher" because I'm the one taking most of the pictures, Sof's called Loop-Dee-Loop because he always professes to never lead troops, but always ends up doing so, and finally our Deb is called, Dragon-Ass because she is most content taking up the rear, making sure everyone is safe and in view.





Not allot happened this week. We basically hiked about 4.2 miles, and then turned around and hiked back. There were a few alternate trails that we took to keep us on our toes, but that was about it. The trail started out being a very pleasant, very lightly traveled rocky path that is starting to be littered with colorful leaves. At about the 2 mile mark or so, we came across terrain that was broken up a little by dirt bikes and logging equipment so there wasn't much scenery to snap pictures of. Because it was so hot, once we turned around at the 4 mile mark, we rushed out of the woods and decided not to do lunch. We all just wanted to jump into Sof's pool. That we did. And after a few hours of rest and relaxation by the pool, everyone enjoyed themselves under the fireworks at Bob and Jody's.





Looking forward to next week's hike everyone.
Talk to everyone then,
Joe

Welcome to the September 4th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome Happy Hikers!

Here we are back again at work starting a new week. A short week at that... But our weekend wasn't short. It was adventurous and filled with surprises. Here's what happened...

On Saturday morning Deb and I decided to meet everyone at the trail head, so we had a little extra time to fuss around the house before we left. Undo pressure in the morning, especially before I have my coffee, is not a good thing so I was a happy camper.

Deb and I eventually arrived at the Chatfield Hollow State Park a little early, so we decided to venture off a bit. I took some pictures nearby while Deb went to the potty. When we got back to the parking area, everyone had arrived and were applying bug repellent and basically getting ready for our adventures. It wasn't long before we all were on our way.

The trail head was not far from the entrance to the Chatfield Hollow State Park, so we decided to walk up the road to find it. We then ventured down a dirt road and across a well built bridge thinking we were on the right path, but later we noticed we were on private land. We then back tracked and found the entrance to our hike a few stretches further up.

The trail we choose this week was very rocky. So much so, the rock formations we saw made this hike one of the most interesting this season. Most of the blue trail we followed lead us up, over, and under the best rock formations in the area. This hike is definitely on our repeat list. Most of our pictures are using rocks to frame us in all our glory.





After we snapped a few group shots in and around all these rocks, the trail ventured off towards a number of dry, rocky stream beds. It really hasn't rained all that much this season, so all the streams and lakes have significantly less water in the them, if any at all. While we were crossing one of these dry streams, Deb and Sof started screaming and shouting. At first we didn't know what was happening, but it didn't take us long to figure out that we were getting attacked by bees. One of us must have stepped on a bees nest. The girls then ran past us, screaming as they went. Rob, Bob, and I chased the girls to try to help, but once we tried to stop and swat the bees away, we found out we didn't run away far enough. We eventually were able to run out of their reach to stop and apply some medication, but not after a very trying experience. We also rested to contemplate our next move.



All in all, both Deb and Sof probably received about 10-15 bee stings apiece, mostly on their backs. I got stung once in the back of the head, behind my right ear. We then hiked a bit further until we reached a small wooded bridge where we rested a bit while we were counting our wounds. Later, Sof mentioned that she was worried about what to do if we had to get out of the woods quickly, like I'm sure everyone else was. At this point we were about 4 miles away from our cars. None of us are allergic to bee stings, thank God, but if someone like Christina was with us, we would have had a major problem on our hands.





Our plan was to hike about 4.1 miles to the end of the trail and then turn around and go back. On our way back we decided to avoid the dry stream beds and go around all those bees. About at this point Bob got stung on the elbow, so that left Rob the only person without wounds. We were able to finally get back to our hiking again, at which point we were greeted by some people on horseback. We warned them about the bees, and then we finished the rest of our hike by snapping some more group shots, and then eventually eating lunch at Cafe NV, then we had our Starbucks fix. What an adventure!



ok, that's all for this week.
See everyone next.

Joe

Welcome to the August 27th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Welcome Happy Hikers!

This past week's hike was chosen by our talented travel consultant, Deborah Greene. She'll take you with ease on a camel ride to see the great Pyramids in Egypt, and to the sprawling city of London to see the likes of Big Ben, and also to the shiny bright blue waters splashing over the white sandy beaches of the Caribbean... but she was taken by surprise this past Saturday morning. Oh, yes she was... When Deb and I arrived in Norwich to hook up with Bob and Sof, (Rob was giving Christina a ride to her horseback riding) we were informed that Deb (aka The Direction Lady) was in charge of leading us to the trail head.

Deb took charge almost as masterful as Theodore Roosevelt would have back when he was planning his famous hunting trips out on horseback in the Badlands. But what I won't tell you is.. that I saved her ass, because I always keep a few good maps in my car just for occasions like this. And Deb performed gallantly! We drove through the entire slum district of East Hartford, and finally got to our destination at the wrong end of the Metacomet Trail than what was intended. But all was not lost. We decided to hike the trail in reverse. Like it really mattered.

We finally got to our hike and immediately we started up an incline that wouldn't end. Our first picture was taken at the top of that hill. It was a pretty good view, but Sof was a little nervous being placed at a spot so close the the edge.



We hiked a bit more and then came across the Heublein Tower. We were a bit early and had to wait about 15 minutes for it to open, but we welcomed to relaxation. A little research about the tower reveals that Gilbert F. Heublein built it as his summer retreat in 1914, so that it would "never blow over." Also, in 1974 it went through a major renovation by the State of Connecticut to make it more accessible to the public.

Onward we went... And Theodore Roosevelt would have been proud of us, because we are able outdoors men and woman! Usually Rob and Bob are hiking out in front, and I am sandwiched in the middle with Sof and Deb behind me, but occasionally I stop to snap a few pictures and get behind. On this occasion, I was caught up with the girls and were walking briskly with them when I saw a baby black bear coming toward us on our left. I said, "Look, a bear!" That startled him, and he immediately turned around and headed the other way. But on that side of the trail, he didn't have very far to go before he reached the waters edge. He was pinned between us and the water. So he started running ahead of us, along the water, breaking small branches as he went. I wasn't able to snap a picture of him, but I sure wanted to. And then, a couple who was running toward us on the trail saw the bear and screamed, "a bear!" and immediately turned around and ran the other way. That's exactly what not to do! We made relatively loud noises with our walking sticks and called out cautiously to scare the bear away, which in fact, that's what happened. The bear eventually stopped somewhere in his tracts while we passed and we were out of danger. We were sure that Mommy-Bear was close by. Thanks to a pamphlet we read at the Heublein Tower, we were educated on how to react when encountering a bear in the woods. Again, TR would be proud! Maybe not as proud as if we had a gun, but I won't go there.

Lunch and Starbucks followed, as usual, and resting by the pool after that... I love Saturdays!

Well, that wraps up our hiking adventures for this week. Talk to everyone again next...
Happy Hiking,
Joe

Welcome to the August 20th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome Happy Hikers!

A lot was going on this past Saturday. Actually, my story starts on Friday afternoon before our hike, during my lunch hour in Newport.

I was sitting in my truck at my work, Naval Station Newport, about ready to drive to the Dress Barn to buy my Mom a birthday present for her party on Saturday afternoon. Since one of Jody's stores is almost next door to the Dress Barn, I decided to call her to see if she was interested in helping me pick something out... I didn't expect her to be there, but I had to try anyway. Jody and I talked a bit and I then promised to bring my Cosmo ingredients to share with her during our famous "Take the Edge Off" later that evening at Sof and Rob's. We ended up making about 4 or 5 cosmopolitans and probably 5 or 6 Tangueray and Tonics. All of us really enjoyed a wonderful evening singing to Mark and Rob's iPods and we all were feeling very good by the end of the night. I definitely had 1 or 2 too many... I actually have movies and pictures to prove it.

Saturday morning... OHHH.... I was not feeling good at all. My alarm went off and I almost decided to call it quits. I dragged myself out of bed and eventually Deb and I got to Norwich about 10 minutes late. I was dreading a horrible walk in between my headache and my stomach pains.

Once we started out, I started feeling a little better. As we hiked, the trail was very rocky throughout. We were forced to stay alert to keep from tripping. I even caught Bob coming up from a fall in one picture. He has scrapes in his knee to prove it.

The first picture in this newsletter was taken in front of the Hartford skyline. It's barely visible in the background.



Our next picture is of Deb and Sof during one of my stops to snap some pictures... I was determined to snap a lot of pictures this hike.



Our next picture was inspired by Sof who suggested to frame us inside a bed of ferns.



We all decided that all the rocks were a great backdrop.



Bob, getting the LOVE...



Our Hiking Adventures at the summit of Lookout Mountain at 744ft. Hartford is seen much better in this picture.


See everyone next week!
Joe