Columbus Day on Turkey Mountain

Today’s title shot captures one of the things I love the most about Turkey Mountain–letting the kids explore the summit. After a steep, .7 mile climb along the white trail, the summit is a vast expanse of flat rock and scrubby brush that slopes gradually into a series of nooks and crannies that are perfect for hiding out. These three kids found just the spot for that today, nestling themselves into the crevices of the boulders and let their story unfold. When I came upon them they were chatting away about something and I tried not to interfere too much with their play. The mother of one of the kids was not too far up the hill, enough of an eye on them to be comfortable without meddling. There was a lot of that happening up there today, kids marching around, digging with sticks, making their way through the spaces between the trees to their own little spots.

We had more families than usual today because of the holiday which was a good vibe, as well as some folks who joined us for the first time. While it was a little chilly, it wasn’t too breezy at the top of the trail and that allowed us to linger with our lunches and adventures a while before heading back down. The overcast skies didn’t highlight the autumn colors as much as a sunny day would have done, but the view of the city was still pretty clear. Debbie got some great shots which you can see in her slide show below and the view from up there is fabulous. You really feel like you’re up there and the kids really feel like they climbed a mountain which is very cool.
So there was some summit exploring and some caterpillar spotting–though I haven’t been able to ID the lime-green, fuzzy critter we encountered today. A log became a ship, walking sticks were found and coveted, oranges were shared. Nice, relaxed hike.