Walk Along the Brandywine

It's getting toward Fall, and that means getting out and hiking (or walking in this case) whenever able. Amp and Julia had meetings to get ready for the Fall musical for school (Bye Bye Birdy), so Grace and I took the opportunity to get out and spend a couple of hours walking along the Brandywine near home.

It was a perfect day, about 75 degrees with no humidity, and we hiked a well-known trail from the Thompson's Bridge parking lot north along the creek (river) and back again.

Brandywine looking north

Water level over the gravelly bottom was low, and we saw a pair of kayakers attempt to run a shallow riffle and get hung up on the rocks in the few inches of water.

Brandywine looking south

Many others were out, including kayakers, walkers, bikers, and dog walkers. Grace found a nice tree at one point and needed to climb it (I would have if I were her), and she took a bunch of nice pictures with her camera from last Christmas.

Thing 2 up a tree (good place for a geocache...)

The highlight of the day's walk (other than the fact that my daughter suggested going for a hike in the woods with Dad!) was the sighting of a big bird swooping from tree to tree over the creek. The first time I saw it, my thought was "did I just see a bald eagle?". The second and third times, paying close attention, there was no doubt that this was what we saw. From a distance of maybe 60 to 70 yards, it was clearly a smallish bald eagle. I have seen many of these flying over the Sassafras River over the years, but I had never seen one so close to home. Thrilling. And a great highlight to a great day.