We wanted our first hike of the semester to be memorable, and memorable it was!
From the bright blue skies you'd never guess that tropical storm Hanna had just dumped buckets and buckets of rain only
hours earlier, but along the trail there were still a few subtle clues.
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The park itself was gorgeous! We began our hike at the Bigelow Pond picnic area and proceeded to do an 8-mile loop around Breakneck Pond in the adjoining
Nipmuck State Forest.
A picture of Sophie taking a picture of our first view of Breakneck Pond from its eastern shore.
Another view of Breakneck Pond taken a bit further up the trail.
Our group hiking along the eastern shore of the pond...
...up and over rocks...
...and across flooded streams.
We stopped to rest at a place where you stop to rest.
A peaceful moment: Katie down on the banks of the pond.
At the northern tip of the pond Sophie, Max, Taylor and Leila discover a rope swing and, well...
you can guess what happened next.
First Leila takes it for a test spin.
Then Taylor is up and away!
She's followed by Jason and Max (who apparently can fly)...
...and by Sophie (who apparently can walk on water) and Jeff (at various odd angles).
Ashley is bewildered by all those crazy kids!
Michelle and Sasha are up to their knees.
Being pre-soaked actually turned out to be good preparation for some of the trail conditions we encountered on
the remainder of our hike.
At the end of our hike, photographic proof that we all made it out unscathed. What can we say. Our adventure was not your typical Sunday afternoon
Outing Club hike, but we all had a great time on a trip which we won't soon forget.