Brian Kleinsmith: Brown County State Park

Those who knew me in Taiwan probably know that on a cool, sunny Saturday afternoon in Northern Taiwan's mild winters, I liked nothing more than heading for the hills for an afternoon of hiking. You probably also know how well set-up Taiwan is for hiking--beautiful, well-marked trails running up into the hills only minutes from downtown.

I left Taiwan knowing it might be pretty tough finding such excellent hiking near where I live...but we made a pretty nice discover a few days ago--Brown County State Park. Just to the east of Bloomington, the road starts to wind through some pretty, hilly countryside, and just a half hour from town sits this gorgeous state park. It's nicely organized, and it seems quite able to handle vacationers as well as day-trippers. OK, so we didn't "hike" the way I used to, sweating my way up and down wooded hillsides (not with Kitty and Sabrina in tow,) but we had a good day of it, and just maybe we'll be able to a little more hiking on the future.

Enjoy some images...

Daddy and Sabrina pose...