Hyde Hall & Sleeping Lion Hike – Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Report by Aleda Koehn – About 12 chapter members paid the $8 entrance fee and were treated to a tour of Hyde Hall. According to Brendon Gill of The New Yorker, “Hyde Hall is one of the two or three greatest houses in America.” Since the last time I was in Hyde Hall so much has been restored and repaired. Many items-furniture, paintings, carpets, and other artifacts have been added in the past few years, with more to come. The main room will be getting a carpet that matches the pattern seen in an old photograph. Larry Smith, the docent, gave us a wonderful tour, telling stories about the house and the Clarke family and the descendants who lived there during its almost 200 year history.
After the tour, seven of us decided to hike the two plus mile trail up and down Sleeping Lion, even though it was starting to rain. We went up the steep first slope. (Was this the lion’s rump?) The trail leveled for a while and then made another shorter steep pitch. (Was this the head?) Although the rain intensity increased, the temperature was warm and we did not mind getting wet. After walking for about an hour through a lovely woods, the trail sloped down and finally came out near where we parked the cars. Pam Lea took a picture of our wet but happy hiking group. Why let a little rain cancel our very nice hike above Otsego Lake! Photographer: Pam Lea.