Full Moon Lights Up a Great Hike

Full Sturgeon moon

The Moon Over Minekill State Park

The Moonlight Hikers

By Ian Koontz

BLENHEIM — This past Saturday on August 9th, Minekill State Park hosted an evening hike under the dim gaze of a full Sturgeon Moon. The event began at 8:30 pm just outside of Minekill’s office, where patrons gathered in a circle of families and friends. Equipped with headlamps, flashlights, or the occasional phone-light, the large group of over twenty hikers were well prepared to tread the trails in the absolute of night.

The moonlit hike began; guided by the Environmental Educator at Minekill State Park, Hannah Young. In good order, the patrons walked away from the office and across Minekill’s intake road. Where then they entered the deep-dark woods, where only a few beams brightened the path. Taking a short descent down the Long Path, the hike took a quick left, and then followed Minekill’s own Orange Path–winding over and around the encompassing wood, breaking into the Red Path, and finally opening like a deep breath into the Mid-Level Pavillion.

Upon the Pavillion the group stopped–bats, a blur, gliding overhead. And the group hushed to listen for the echoing hoot of local owls. Unfortunately, some phantom concert, perhaps a hiker with a speaker, or something of other effect, was playing loud away in the forest. This certainly scared most animals into silence, said the other Park Naturalists present during the hike. The crickets and frogs didn’t seem to mind.

The latter half of the hike marched from the mid-level to the pool complex’s rightmost wall, then dipping back into the Long Path. At this point, in the wide-open twilight fields, the grand yellow disk, the Full Sturgeon Moon was finally visible. Under the watchful light of the large, uncommon moon, the hike concluded by looping back on the Long Path and ending in the mowed clearings behind Minekill’s Office. Here a group picture of all the patrons and staff was taken.

By 9:45 goodbyes were said and thanks were given to Minekill’s Naturalists for their excellent guiding and administration of this fleeting moonlit journey. And mentions were made by Environmental Educator, Hannah Young that upon this Friday, August 15th, at Max V. Shaul Campground, there will be a free Meteor-watch to see the magic of the Perseids meteor shower from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm, no registration required.