Bear Mountain

Yesterday was the best. For my birthday, my family and I did a bit of hiking around Bear Mountain. My goodness, it was beautiful. The pictures I took don't even do it justice. We drove up to the very top, and the view was insane. All of the leaves on the trees were various shades of purple, orange, and yellow, and it was really like looking down on a sea of beautiful autumn colors. After last weekend's little snow storm, I was a little bummed out by the prospect of the leaves falling off the trees sooner than usual because of the crazy weather, but it was perfect. We did a bit of hiking around the various delightful trails, and even found ourselves, uh, in a few climbing related predicaments. It was fun, and terribly amusing climbing down (and back up after wimping out) super steep rocks. I may have tumbled once. Possibly. After some hiking, we accidentally found the wonderful park at the bottom of the mountain. There were so many fun things to do there. There was a huge grassy field I could have lay down in all day (and played frisbee in. Things for next time!) and a carousel where I got to ride a FOX - because now that I'm officially twenty, I'm acting even more mature than usual. There was also a nature trail and zoo, where I found myself in solidarity with a particularly contemplative-looking bear. I'm quite determined to drag my friends up to Bear Mountain soon enough! I'm sure I'm leaving out one million wonderful things. This birthday weekend has honestly been fantastic. The past few months of being nineteen were tumultuous, exciting, crazy, and held a lot of changes for me. So welcoming in a new year, a new decade of my life, is exciting, and I couldn't think of a better way to have spent my birthday.















Proving my newfound maturity:



Thoughtful bear, longing for something more:



The lake:



Throwing leaves and making dumb faces!



The aftermath, when it took me too long to figure out that leaf was stuck on my head:





Until tomorrow,
Nicole