It was a beautiful Arts Fest weekend, probably my favorite in more than a decade of visiting. I don’t make it back to Happy Valley every Arts Fest, but when I do I try to make the most of it. This year that meant a hike up Mount Nittany with family.

The view from the Mike Lynch Overlook over downtown State College and Penn State’s campus is simply incredible. I snapped the photo above as we took a breather after the hike up. And I snapped the photo below as we walked along Mount Nittany’s ridge.

Finding sand crunch with the soil and debris of the Mountain as you walk along is a strange thing. I never remember the sandy soil of Mount Nittany, and so am always surprised by it. Growing up with the sandy shores of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and Ocean City, New Jersey conditioned me to expect this sort of terrain at the ocean’s edge. It’s fun to find it in such an unexpected place.