SheldonTimes

It was a picture-perfect day for a hike, so we opted to spend a few hours at Smedley Park, a place we don't visit often enough. The park runs along Crum Creek just upstream from Swarthmore College and downstream from the reservoir. We walked along the creek, across the fields where the paper mill once stood, and up the hill behind the Aqua PA facility on Beatty Road. We spotted a big hawk, but didn't get a good look at it. Next time we should remember to bring binoculars, as it's a good location for seeing birds.

 

One drawback to the park is that the Blue Route runs right through it, the bridge over Crum Creek and over a smaller tributary allowing access from one part of the park to the next. The highway is high enough so that it's not particularly unslightly, but the traffic noise is somewhat bothersome. I noticed it particularly today, probably because there are no leaves on the trees to provide a sound barrier, and maybe also because the air was fairly dry.