Head down into the woods, into a three-hour fantasy, far from the nearby crowds and din. I went to the woods to feed my soul, to gain back energy drained by a fast paced life. I found what I was looking for at Hacklebarney State Park, tucked away between Chester and Long Valley. It was a massage for the senses, elixir for the mind, balm for the body. Hacklebarney offers the sighs of tall trees on a hot summer day, beams of sunlight straight off a prayer card, and melodies of birds for my ears only.
Life is cooler in the woods, too, under the shade of the forest.
I enter the park on a graveled path along a ridge above a stream. I turn off the path and head down into the woods, down a built staircase that takes me into a three-hour fantasy, far from the nearby crowds and din. I zip across the Trout Brook's wooden bridge into the woods. It's not stocked, but is managed to conserve its wild trout population. Dappled sunlight on the forest floor reveals a mixed growth of grasses and ferns, purple and white violas, nettles, wild impatiens, and berry bushes.