My favorite local hiking spot is part of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, which is conveniently located just a few minutes from where I work.  I've been trying to take advantage of this more often - I'm a big walker, especially in the seasonable months, and while I mostly just take long walks around my neighborhood, it's nice to mix things up.  I stopped by after work yesterday, and brought my camera along.  It was another typical August day of steamy humid misery, but in the woods it was shady and cooler, and generally a much more pleasant outdoor experience than I'm used to lately.

One of the things I like best about hiking here is that you can choose your level of difficulty depending on what kind of hiking experience you want.  There's the Valley Creek Trail, which - shockingly! - winds alongside Valley Creek, which is itself parallel to Valley Creek Road. Oh, the brainpower that went into coming up with those names.  The Valley Creek Trail is flat and pretty and not at all taxing; from one end and back again is just two and a half miles.

The other option is to veer off onto the path that takes you up the aptly-named Mount Misery.  It's definitely a challenge, but a fairly modest one if you're in decent physical shape, and the whole thing only takes about an hour to hike.  That's usually the route I go for, but this time I stuck to the Valley Creek Trail, since I'm still recovering from a minor injury and figured I'd play it safe.  (Even the easy route proved to be a little too much too soon, woe.  And ow.)

Knox Covered Bridge, Valley Forge, PA

You have to cross this bridge to get to the parking area.  It's one lane and a 150 years old; crossing it is like playing a really boring game of chicken.  (Restoration work was done on it in the 1960s, or so the internet tells me, so as long as you can avoid crashing into an oncoming car, it's probably safe enough.)

Since I kept stopping to take pictures, and watch butterflies chase each other in a loopy dance, and examine weird mushrooms and intricate spiderwebs, and otherwise enjoy a summer afternoon in the woods, it wasn't the most vigorous walk I've ever taken.  But it was a lovely (if ultimately painful) mid-week diversion, and I got a few decent shots out of it, so I'm counting it as a win.