Over the weekend, my son and I went hiking through the woods behind our house. I'm truly thrilled that I can provide the opportunity for my son and I to walk out the backyard into a beautiful wooded area. Like his dad, he seemed to like hiking at a very early age. When he was about 4 years old, we went for a hike at Hartwood Acres in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. I was thinking that he would be tired or bored in about a half hour and want to turn back. We went through that area for a couple hours until my tongue was dragging. He just wanted to stay in the woods at Hartwood Acres and explore. He's managed to keep up this interest over the last few years as I've taken him on several hikes a year through the Western Pennsylvania area. Hopefully, when he gets older, he and I can enjoy some hiking adventures in other areas of the US and world.

This a beautiful time of year to hike in Western PA. The leaves are now past peak and have started falling off the trees. As we rustled through the freshly fallen leaves, I could smell the wonderful autumn leaf scent. Nothing beats the smell of the woods in the fall. At one point, while we were walking along a creek at the bottom of the woods behind our house, my son was commenting how he really enjoyed hiking with me. It's fantastic that he and I have something together that we both really enjoy.

We saw a white tailed deer running through the woods and tracked it for a short time. These woods are heavily populated by deer , ground hogs, squirrels and skunk. It's hard to go on a hike here without running into some kind of wildlife. Luckily we haven't encountered any skunks. I wish that I could say the same for my dog!