Day 3 : Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, Lake Santeetlah and Massey Branch Pier

We had a beautiful start to the day with great weather, serene landscape and a cup of coffee by the stream next to our cabin! We headed out first thing for a hike through Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The Forest is one of the largest contiguous tracts of old growth forests in the Eastern US and is home to trees as tall as 100 ft high, 20 Ft around and over 400 years old.

The Forest was dedicated to the memory of Joyce Kilmer a noted author and - a WWI war hero who was killed in action.

Kilmer was the author of the famous poem "Trees".

If you have never read/heard this eloquent classic - it is worth exploring or revisiting. We sure appreciated it more as adults than grade school kids!

"TREES" - by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

We did the Memorial Forest Loop - a nice easy morning hike ~ 2 miles- with a carpet of moss, ferns and newly sprung wildflowers ...and of course the TREES were stunning.

Canoeing Lake Santeetlah

Our generous Airbnb host, Rob let us use his canoe that he keeps at Lake Santeetlah. We put in at Bear Cove and had extraordinary weather - the lake was pristine and we only a few fellow paddlers to share the water with.

Fishing Massey Branch Pier

We ended the day with some late afternoon fishing - all we caught was a stick - but that was better than everyone else at the pier!