Since our hotel was practically on Penn State's campus we decided to take advantage of some of the famous Nittany Lion traditions. For starters, we decided to climb Mount Nittany so on Thursday a group of about 12 of us grabbed some waters and drove to the trailhead.
The hike was beautiful. At first the trail was rocky and steep but once we reached the ridge the footing got a little better and the views of Happy Valley were spectacular. It was fun hiking and chatting with lots of stops for snacks and picture taking. I was especially interested because I had just finished Bill Bryson's book about hiking the Appalachian Trail called A Walk in the Woods. He mentions Mount Nittany as well as some of the geology and history about the Appalachian Mountains where it's located. One thing he talks about is how it is widely believed that all of the mountain lions in that area are extinct but on one of his hikes in the Appalachian Mountains he swears he saw one. There have been several other reported sightings as well in recent years which is leading some to believe that perhaps the population is coming back. Incredibly, my cousin Amy saw one during our hike. She had fallen back from the group to take a phone call and when she was trying to find the group again, she saw one cross the trail in front of her. She said it looked like a huge tannish cat which paused when it saw her and then just kept going on its way. Crazy, right?!
Other fun stops on campus were posing with the Nittany Lion statue and eating at the campus creamery. The Penn State creamery is the largest campus run one of its kind in the country and it was delicious. It's pretty cool to know that your ice cream was made fresh right on site - there's even a big field of cows on campus.
Though it was fun visiting another school, my loyalty still resides with Ohio State and I am really glad I got to go there. GO BUCKS!
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