HAPPY VALLEY
On the Friday after
Christmas, Christy and I traveled to State College to do some shopping. We decided to do some hiking while we were
there. I was born and raised a Penn State
fan, and although my loyalty to the Nittany Lions has taken a back seat to my
Alma Mater, Appalachian State, I still root for the Lions. As a result, I couldn’t pass up on the
opportunity to hike Mount Nittany.
Mount Nittany overlooks State College and the Penn State campus, and is
considered the classic hike for students, alumni, and fans. I’m not sure, but climbing Mount Nittany
might be requirement to graduate from Penn State.
A one-hour drive from
Clearfield brought us to the trailhead in the town of Lemont, just beyond State
College. We parked at the trailhead,
where we found three of four other cars.
This was a bit surprising, since it was a Friday in December, but it was
an unusually warm day. Even more
unusual was the sunshine, which was making a rare winter appearance, even if it
was filtered through a thin layer of clouds.
We picked up a trail map at
the sign board at the beginning of the trail.
From there, we followed an old muddy jeep road uphill. A few minutes later we reached a junction,
and followed a white-blazed trail for a climb up the mountain. The climb wasn’t brutal, but it was
steady. Fortunately, it didn’t last
long. We reached the top of the ridge
and arrived at a campsite and a confusing junction. We turned right here onto a white-blazed trail that should’ve
been blue, according to the trail map.
This path led a short distance to the best view from the mountain. At the overlook, we were treated to a nice
view of State College, the campus, and Beaver Stadium, one of the largest
football stadiums in the country.
After a brief break to enjoy
the view, we continued on the trail around the perimeter of the mountain. We opted to follow the blue loop, which is a
5.5 mile circuit. The loop connects a
handful of additional overlooks, but most of the views were a bit
disappointing. In fact, most of the
views required peering through the trees.
I imagine the views are severely limited in the summer when the leaves
are on the trees.
The best aspect of this hike
was probably the lovely open hardwood forest on top of the mountain. Most of the trails were lined with lush
moss, and wildlife is probably abundant, although we didn’t see any. We did see evidence of deer hunting,
including a few deer stands. Most of the
mountain is owned by a land conservancy, but the original landowner has retained
the right to hunt there. Some areas
were posted with no trespassing signs, but the trail passed right through
several of them. Later, upon returning
to the trailhead, we noticed a small sign posted at the kiosk that warned that
some trails might be closed during hunting season. Oops!
The descent was a bit
tedious, as we followed a steep, rocky route down to an old road. Once we reached the road, the hiking became
easy. We passed a couple hikers near
the trailhead, and returned to the car to find 8 or 9 cars there. We willingly gave up our parking spot, and
headed into town for lunch and shopping.
I enjoyed hiking Mount Nittany, but it’s probably not a hike I would do
again. There are just too many other
hiking opportunities in the area that I haven’t tried yet!
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