Hiking the Old Mill Trail at Nockamixon State Park

Wow, it's been so long since we've been out adventuring.

On August 26, we visited the Philadelphia Art Museum, and then, a day or two after that, we took a long walk up the Schuylkill River Trail in Fairmount Park (no blog...sorry about that).  But nothing since then.

Well, the motorhome has been in for servicing and we spent the last month or so at our daughter's house in Philadelphia.  We finally got our RV back and are settled, cats and all, in a camp spot in Hatfield, Pennsylvania.

We got our bivalent Covid boosters this morning and decided to celebrate the occasion by trying a 5.5 mile hike at Nockamixon State Park, between Hatfield and Quakertown. 

Lake Nockamixon is an artificial reservoir formed by a dam on Tohickon Creek and serves as the centerpiece of Nockamixon State Park. Swimming is not allowed in the lake, but boating is popular, and the park maintains several marinas and boat rentals. Fishing is also popular, and common species include walleye, pickerel, carp, and various kinds of bass and catfish.  The lake was formed by a dam in 1958, and the state park was opened to the public in December 1973.

Today, it is a beautiful mature lake and we can't wait to paddle it!  But that is for another day.  Today is for hiking.

We took our ritual trailhead selfy, excited to be out on the trail again after more than a month:

The park includes land that was formerly part of the village of Tohickon and surrounding Bucks County communities.  The land around the lake includes properties that were once used as productive mills, including Stover's Mill --

-- which is memorialized at its site with a plaque and an old millstone:

The remains of the two dams forming the mill pond are still evident along the trail:

We chose to start along the Old Mill Trail that meandered lakeside.  Kathy pointed the way:

Despite our absence from hiking for a month, Kathy could still climb those mountains!

...And we found lots of fun guys to consort with:

The trail was gorgeous on this late summer/early fall day.  The temperature was in the high 60's and we could smell the coming Autumn season in the air:

All along the lakeshore, stone walls testify to farms that were established in this area:

Our trail brought us down by the lake at several points, which gave us a chance to look at the lakeshore in all its glory:

While the lake is known for its fishing, the only fishermen we spotted were casting from the shore.  The only boat we spotted was this little sailboat.  We were jealous and wanted to get out there and paddle our kayaks.

About 2.5 miles along the lakeshore, we found a picnic table to have our hiker's lunch.  The table was perched at the top of an old, abandoned boat ramp, at the bottom of which stood these drunken pilings, testifying to some past dock or pier no longer in use:

Periodically along our way, we encountered signs, and the characteristic red blazes, that assured us we were still on the Old Mill Trail:

There were not a lot of fungus in the woods at this time of year, because rains have not been plentiful in this area, but we found a few pretty specimens, including this delicate one --

-- and this more outgoing fellow:

Following lunch, we worked our way back, not along the lakeshore but across the highlands, until we returned to an arm of the lake, where Kathy spotted this heron holding court on a rock and protesting the intrusions of a duck family:

This was a fitting way to finish our hike.  We returned to the fishing pier where we had parked the Jeep and promised ourselves that we would return soon to put our kayaks into the water to see the lakeshore from another vantage.