An Autumn Jaunt at Redding's Huntington State Park

I'd been longing to hike in the woods to enjoy the autumn foliage for the past two weeks, but work kept getting in the way. Finally, I got out there today, on what was forecast to be a sunny day, but Hurricane Sandy turned it into a wholly cloudy, overcast day.

If you're unfamiliar with Huntington, it became a state park in 1973 after it was willed to the state by Archer M. Huntington. Used mostly as agricultural land into the late 1800s, its 1,017 acres today feature eight miles of carriage roads, trails, vernal pools and interesting geologic formations.

A familiar sight to any visitor who pulls in the gravel parking lot off Sunset Hill Road are the twin statues of bears and wolves.

This is a view of a footbridge traversing one of five ponds at the park.

The trail beckons

I'm sorry I didn't take a closer look at the foliage on this tree with handsome furrowed bark.

There were some interesting glacial rocks off the Red Trail. The explorer in me wanted to go scampering up them.

Gnarled mountain laurel branches

This tree trunk is wearing slippers!

Oak leaves on the water's surface

Seasonal colors

A restful place

Pond view

Water, water everywhere...

Sugar maple leaves on the forest floor