Haystack Mountain

We drove out to Norfolk, Connecticut on Saturday to visit a couple of state parks and do some letterboxing. Our first stop was at Haystack Mountain State Park, where we climbed the mountain to the stone observation tower at the summit. The Map Man snapped this photo of us atop the stone retaining wall that winds up the mountain along the trail. It was about half a mile hike to the tower, pretty much the perfect distance for our crew of two young kids and two adults with knee problems, although it was steep enough to be a bit of a challenge for us all at times.

There were stone steps built into the mountainside trail at the steeper spots, which can be seen here in this photo of the boys and The Map Man. This was about the point that I suddenly remembered that I left our letterboxing clues back in the car! But not to fear, The Map Man remembered enough of the clues for us to find the box anyway. My hero!!


There were wild columbine (red, on the left) and wild geraniums (pink, on the right) growing all over the mountain -- they were JUST gorgeous! There was tons of honeysuckle in bloom, too. Such a pretty location!


Another visitor was kind enough to take this photo of us all together on the steps of the tower. Family photos of us are pretty rare (either The Map Man or I are usually behind the camera), and we are always grateful when we are able to get one.

The boys show off the rubbings they made of the survey marker at the top of the tower. It's hard to see that view since it was so dark in the tower, but trust me, it was amazing! You can see Long Island Sound (coast of Connecticut), the Berskshire Mountains (Massachusetts) and the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains (New York) from the tower. It was a perfect day for visiting this park, very clear skies afforded us distant views.

After Haystack, we headed to nearby Campbell Falls State Park, which I'll blog about next!