Labor Day Weekend - The End of Summer

Labor Day = the end of summer. I don't know about any of you but I like to stay close to home on this holiday. Most of the state parks are full, traffic is heavy - just not my style. The weekend after Labor Day is my favorite though because suddenly the Parks that were full over the summer become empty just like that!

So in an effort to catch my Mom up to me on her hiking club miles we headed out to William O'Brien to do a 6 miler and finally get her to within 2 parks of me. 

It was HOT and HUMID so the park was more empty than I thought it was going to be which was a pleasant surprise. This is my 4th time out to William O'Brien this year and this Park never disappoints. 

Beautiful scenery. You can see that we are starting to change from summer to fall. Some leaves are changing colors, the field is starting to take on a pinkish tint, flowers are starting to die and the light is taking on a more golden glow. We are coming into my favorite time of year and I couldn't be more excited.

This time on the HCT I opted to do it in reverse - to get the hilly section out of the way in the beginning as my mom has been having some arthritis flare ups in her knee. This worked out great by the time she started to tire we were on mostly flat ground which is a lot easier to handle.

Ran across some wildlife: 2 turtles, leopard frogs, a snake, 2 rabbits and a deer. Winston was having a great time with this - even though he is mostly deaf now if he saw it he'd chase it as far as he could on the leash.

This park is one of my favorites and I still kick myself that I have lived fairly close to it for most of my life and my first trip there happened last September... If you get a chance go check it out!