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| The woodsy terrain at Dinosaur State Park |
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| Kristen with her trusty guide |
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| A casualty of Hurricane Irene |
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| Scott peeking through some berries that we found |
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| Mixing plaster for our dinosaur footprint by hand |
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| You probably can't see it, but the back of our dinosaur footprint has our name, the date and our hand prints |
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| Scott and the finished product Town: Rocky Hill Distance: 1.25 miles Vertical Rise: N/A Time: 45 minutes Features: Lots of snakes and chipmunks, Opportunity to make and take home a plaster mold of a dinosaur track Distance Hiked Thus Far: 9.75 miles Today, we decided to go to Dinosaur State Park on a whim. We were in Hartford to visit Scott's dad, so we decided to check it out. Since the hike was only 1.25 miles long, we were not expecting much in terms of excitement, but since the weather was so beautiful for this time of year, it turned out to be a great day for hiking. With temperatures in the low 80's, it was warm, sunny and so nice to be outside enjoying the day. For such a short hike, we experienced a variety of terrains. The trail took us through fields, orchards, swamps, and small rocky hills. We expected the orchards to be overrun with poison ivy (as per 50 Hikes in Connecticut), but we were happy to hike through a poison-ivy free meadow. The swamps and rocky hills were home to many woodland creatures, particularly chipmunks and snakes. We saw a tiny, baby snake sticking its head out from under a rock on the trail, but it was the larger snake in the swamp that really startled us (Kristen in particular!). At the end of the trail, we realized that we hadn't seen any dinosaur tracks, so we went searching for the section of the park that contained them. Not only did we find the dinosaur tracks, but to our surprise, we were able to cast the tracks in plaster and make a mold to take home with us! With the help of the volunteer that was manning the station, we greased and poured plaster on a ornithopod's footprint. One of the guests had been good enough to donate about 200 lbs. of plaster so that everyone could enjoy this feature of the park. After letting our mold dry for about 20 minutes, we peeled it off, and took it home to dry for the next two weeks. It was so exciting to bring home a little piece of history for our front yard! All in all, Dinosaur State Park was full of many fun and pleasant surprises! What a great Columbus Day Weekend activity!!! |
