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Hike of Bluff Point State Park

Groton, CT

February 26th, 2012

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Sam in a tree

No sooner had we arrived at Bluff Point State Park than our ever intrepid Sam was off and climing her first tree... and her next... and another one after that; even marching through thorny vines in her quest to climb the best tree.
Sam in another tree

The Bluff Point coastal reserve had lots vegetation we don't normally see on our hikes. Even in the middle of winter, the twisty vines and unsusal trees gave the landscape a lot of character.
Tree-lined trail
vegetation
View of Long Island Sound Hiking a coastal plain 80 miles away in the middle of winter might seem like an odd choice, but it was only minutes from Connecticut College where we were going that evening to see the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour. And being an outing club, we couldn't pass up an opportunity to get out! So our 5-mile hike began along the Poquonnock River and brought us to the tip of the peninsula overlooking Long Island Sound, which we get our first glimpse of right here.

Philix, Sam and Therese descend the rocks adjacent to Bushy Point Beach, a thin, crescent-shaped strip of land separating the Poquonnock River and Fishers Island Sound.

Philix, Sam & Therese Bushy Point Beach
Therese Sam All those thingies on the beach are seashells! Therese and Sam spared no expense hunting for some good specimens.

Then, Therese, Greg and Amira walked all the way out to the tip of the beach and back - about a mile round trip - while Philix and Sam went in the other direction to find more trees to climb. Therese casts a long shadow walking along the sound, and on the inland side of the strip of land, we had a great view across the marsh of the coastal reserve through which we had just hiked.

Therese Inland view of coastal reserve

We then regrouped and ventured over to explore the bluffs. Therese stands high on the bluff top while down below, Sam and Greg had made their way out to the water. Can you tell this was the windy spot?

Therese on bluff Sam & Greg
Philix Amira Philix climbs down the bluff while Amira finds a nice spot up top to relax.

There were two huge boulders further out by the water which Sam, Philix and Therese just couldn't resist conquering.
Sam, Philix & Therese on boulder
boulders
Sam & boulder And away it goes... sam pushes the boulder into the sea!
Group All five of us on a nice perch in the boulder field. The sun was getting low and we still had about 2 more miles to hike back to the van. But we made it to Connecticut College with plenty of time to grab dinner before the film festival. It was nearly midnight by the time we got back to Clark, but we all loved both the festival and hike and agreed that they were well worth the trip!

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