Talcott Mountain

Today I hiked up to the Heublein Tower with Abigail, my 8 year old niece. She is a great hiker! The tower is the tiny speck on the horizon in the first picture. I think we hiked 7 or 8 miles around the entire reservoir on Avon Mountain and up to the tower. I was pretty surprised our hike started in West Hartford, went through Bloomfield, then into Simsbury. Wow! Lucky for us, the tower was open and we were treated to a splendid 360 degree view. I've hiked to this tower many times, but just recently found this route. After a week of clouds and rain, the Metacomet Trail was more like the Wetacomet Trail. We spotted 3 orange salamanders. Mountain laurels were in bloom. I think Abby enjoyed "mudman" most of all - a very filthy mountain biker.

Abigail, maybe you could do some research and figure out what kind of salamander they are?

As far as my outline goes, it's really coming along quickly. Last night at 4AM, I came up with some punchy subheaders. Unfortunately, the cat likes to walk on my head at that hour. THREE TIMES!