get out lehigh valley: hickory state park

Today was a Get Out Lehigh Valley hike. This time at Hickory Run State Park. Bonnie doesn't hike (plus she's out with knee replacement surgery) and Angel was working, the tween was also at Girl Scouts, so I asked Khawla, my international student to come. She has discovered she loves hiking.

I also had to chauffeur my niece, so timing was tricky. But we did it. I dropped the teen off at a Girl Scout event at Burnside, and headed to the College for Khawla. Like Angel, she is always ready and beyond prompt. (I could learn something from the two of them.)

The directions sent us up the Turnpike, so that's the way we went. We arrived about 9:45, a good 15 minutes early. But it was cold this morning—about 34° F (That would be 2° or 3°C. The girl was cold!)—so early wasn't necessarily good. We layered up and hiked to the start point. It was only a block away. A few people were late. I said "can we go so we don't all get frostbite?"

We had to wear safety vests because it's hunting season and the game lands are next door. I should not stuff my pouch in this sweatshirt until after pictures are taken.

 Finally, we headed out. It's a hilly, rocky walk. Some areas were smooth. I took my walking stick and I'm glad I did. The leaves covered a lot of hazards so I tripped several times. We also did about a half mile of mountain laurel. I bet it's gorgeous in spring. I sent this Wikipedia image to Khawla so she could see it.

 We crossed the Hickory Run creek on our way to the hill overlooking the Lehigh. Trivia±There are no hickory trees at Hickory Run.

The view of the river and the railroad tracks from half-way up the hill. I would have gone to the top, but it wasn't mowed. Ticks are still out. No thank you.

 Part of the group went further up and took phone photos.

This is an out and back walk so we retraced our steps to get out. The Out portion was mostly downhill, so the back portion was a lot of uphill.

I received my 8th stamp in my passport today. The next walk will be 9. I needed 10 to get my trail maps. First time I didn't reach the goal of a "prize" fitness challenge—conflicting events. But the hikes are a great work out. Maybe next year.

It's time to retrieve my Girl Scout.