Penwood State Park - November 8, 2015

I don't know how long this weather is going to last, so I have to take advantage of it.  Today I took a 6.5 mile hike at Penwood State Park in Bloomfield, CT.  I have been to Penwood several times before, but have never hiked on the Metacomet Trail.  I decided I would do that today.

After walking along the paved road next to Gale Pond, I turned left onto the Metacomet and immediately started climbing.  There was a little up and down here, but eventually it leveled out.  The trickiest part was that the trail had a lot of loose rocks and there were a lot of leaves covering the trail.  It made for rather treacherous footing and made me regret not bringing my hiking poles.

Along this section of trail, I found an area where people had created rock sculptures.  This also seemed to be a place where people created little memorials to loved ones, either people or pets.  I saw two photographs wrapped in plastic bags tucked in among the rocks.

Rock sculpture and memorial.

 The Metacomet meets the paved road near Lake Louise.

Lake Louise

 From Lake Louise, I planned on hiking up to the Pinnacle.  There are two ways to climb up.  You can either continue on the Metacomet or you can take an old road.  I chose to go up on the Metacomet and come back along the road.  The Metacomet is more direct, but steeper.  There are rock steps placed into the hill to aid the climb.

Steps leading to the Pinnacle along the Metacomet.

The climb was worth it.  It got washed out in the picture below, but the Heublein Tower in Talcott Mountain State Park was visible on one of the peaks looking south along the ridge.

The best of the fall colors have gone by, but it was still quite beautiful.  The park was quite busy with other hikers, runners, and mountain bikers.  Everyone out making the best of another gorgeous fall day.