Hawk Mountain
This past weekend, I took a trip to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in East Brunswick Township, PA. It was just a day trip, but one I’d been looking forward to for a while. I went with two other tattoo artists, some of my closest friends from work.
On the way up, we stopped at a huge flea market in Quakertown. It was in a long warehouse-looking building, and inside there was pretty much every kind of weird little shop you could imagine, crushed together in long rows. It reminded me of shopping in the underground markets in Seoul, back when I lived in South Korea. I looked at trinkets and curiosities galore, and ended up buying a cool hoodie, which is kind of a big commitment for a vanlife-ing minimalist like myself.
After loading up on snacks we continued on up to the mountain, which is a sanctuary for raptors. During the rest of the drive there, we saw a few of them, mostly medium-sized hawks I think. It made me feel extra positive about seeing more amazing birds during the hike, but as it was a rainy, foggy day, the sitings along the road there and back were the only ones for us.
The park and hike itself were well worth the trip though, majestic birds or not. Hawk Mountain is beautifully maintained, with winding trails, benches tucked away in different spots, and a large fenced in botanical area where all the local flora is growing in abundance (complete with little signs so you can identify everything!). We’re planning on going back in late spring or summer to take a bunch of reference pictures for possible future botanical-themed tattoos.
We hiked up to a few different lookout points, and the views were captivating in a gloomy, almost romantic way, with fingers of mist drifting up from the valley and sliding over the surrounding hilltops. It rained intermittently, and the rocky trails were slippery along some sections, but overall it was an awesome hiking experience! I’d definitely recommend checking it out. There seemed to be a lot of other trails to hike, we only did a small portion of them I think. There’s also a cute visitor’s center, lots of info along the way about the various raptors you can see, and where and when you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse.
All in all, it was an awesome way to spend a day. I have a couple other blog posts coming very soon, and another trip to Shenandoah Valley National Park at the end of this month, so this fall season is turning out to be pretty epic…making time to get outside and camp/hike/etc has made a huge difference in my overall happiness. Vanlife has made it possible, and I’m feeling good about what the next year of this lifestyle will bring!
Below, I’ve added a carousel of my favorite photos from the trip (click directly on them to cycle through). Thanks for reading, and I hope you’re doing well!
xo, Sev
