Ah, the Poconos. This time, instead of skiing we were in for a weekend of disc golf. I hope you like pictures of parks and baskets because that's pretty much what we've got. We started at Yetter Park, which is a really nicely groomed park with this path leading you from one hole to the next.
It runs along this river which comes into play on two holes. It's a nice scenic break in the middle of the course even though we didn't really stop because of the people behind us.
The rest of the course plays mainly in the woods, with a few tricky shots around trees and one up a hill. There were some narrow fairways and an unfriendly guy doing something who didn't get out of the way when we were shooting. I was hoping my shot would go astray and hit him.
The course gets a good rating from me. I would definitely go back to this one. It's impossible to get lost and even though there aren't many long shots, it's a lot of fun.
We stopped at Holy Guacamole for lunch. It's basically a Moe's with a lot more hot sauce. The burritos were huge and really good. I was so stuffed after eating this. I'm not even sure how I ate the whole thing. Or why.
The next course on our stop was one that I had been to before, but under
a foot of snow. Francis E. Walter Dam looked very similar without the precipitation.
It starts in a field but the woods slowly start to take over each hole. There were a few cases of lost discs but all were found and I found a new one as well.
This is my favorite. There are nine "bonus" holes on this course, making it a 27-hole total. The extra holes were a lot of fun. They pretty much made the course twice as good as it would have been otherwise. Also, each bonus basket was a different fun color.
This is one that I would return to again in this weather. I probably wouldn't visit in the snow again but it's a great course by itself and the bonus holes just take it up a notch.
Next, we found our way to Eurana Park, a 9-hole course south of the dam. It starts in a big field but gets right into thick woods. A lot of the shots demand accuracy or luck. I usually blame the latter for my good shots.
The nine holes went really quickly, shooting down a narrow path through trees to the lake where we started at the end. The lake was nice as well, with a slide into the swimming area that a group of kids were enjoying.
Ferns. This is one that I would come back to as well. I only wish there were another nine holes to play. I was tempted to play it a second time while we were there.
Our final course of the day was Hickory Run State Park. Before we played we picked out a campsite and paid for it so we had a place to go when we got done. This is another course we played
in the snow before. It starts out wide open in the middle of the park with a lot of long shots.
The back nine plays into the woods, where it gets a lot thicker and a little hard to follow at times. The holes have been changed slightly so the paths are not exactly how they appear on the map. The back was fun with a few close shots that aggravated me.
I probably wouldn't come back here unless I was in the area already, but it was a fun course for the day.
When we got back to our campsite we were accompanied by a family of deer. This fawn came close to our area a few times.
We put up the tent and then went in search of wood. We found none. The camp was pretty packed and the wood was all picked over so no fire for us.
With nothing to do I laid down early and got to sleep. It was much better with the camping mats than it was when we slept on the ground backpacking.
We apparently took the high speed tunnel from I, Robot to places farther south in PA. After packing up the tent and getting breakfast at Wawa we went down near Allentown for our next set of courses.
This picture may look somewhat familiar because it's at Jordan Creek which, again, I have played in the snow. Much easier without the snow but I still remembered much of the course.
This uphill shot was not so treacherous this time and I just missed a birdie.
Last time we quit around hole 14 because it was getting dark and hard to find things, but this time we made it to the end. Hole 18 shoots straight down and across water, turning right immediately. My first shot wasn't great, but on the mulligan I nailed the turn.
Before getting to the basket you have to cross another stream. This time I wasn't as lucky and my disc landed right off the bank so I got to putt from the water.
Off to new courses! Next up was South Mountain, a little bit north of Allentown. It lived up to the mountain in its name. The first several holes were steep and rocky yet still fun.
It had a lot of well-constructed holes and the course was kept up nicely. While we were there, people from the local club were putting in new concrete tee pads to replace old ones I assume. They even helped us find a disc that we were ready to give up on. Very friendly people there.
The course was challenging and had a good number of shots that were just fun so I would have to give it a good rating and come back one day.
Our final course was a little hard to find because there is more than one park called Unami Creek Park it seems. We did find it on our second attempt, however, and it was fun right away. Some of the holes are quite long and most of them shoot through the woods or down large hills. Every hole was a little challenging in its own way. They were all great and I wish there were more.
There were flyers in the bathroom about the "dangers of disc golf" because they plan to open the course up to an 18-hole since it's only 9 at the moment. It lists things such as "danger of being struck by a disc," "destroying nature," and "disturbing hikers and park goers." First, the holes run through parts of the woods in which there are no trails except the fairways so no danger of getting hit or disturbing hikers. Second, most disc golfers are very eco-friendly and strive to keep the course looking nice without harming nature in any way. So, another 9 holes, please!
The end of the disc golf weekend had come and we went back to Joanna's to eat. I grilled up some black bean burgers and chomped them while watching Mythbusters. We attempted to take some sunset photos but couldn't find anywhere to shoot. I was so tired at this point I needed a nap so I slept for a couple hours.
When I got up it was too late to do anything but I was refreshed so I went out and took some photos of the prison in Rahway because I think it looks awesome and a little scary at night. I want to take better photos but I'll have to be more prepared next time.
I hopped on the Turnpike after shooting and headed home. It was a nice drive back, though there was more traffic than I expected. I guess it was a Saturday night. When I got home, I could not fall asleep so I ended up watching Man vs. Wild for a few hours until dawn when I finally started to drift off.
