Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area: Great for a short hike!

On October 28, my husband, son, and I went for an hour-long hike at Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area in Blakeslee, PA, just north of the I-80 interchange.

What a beautiful place! There's ample parking, a porta-john, and well-marked trails. We started out on the orange but then veered off onto the red, following the creek. On the way back from the 1.25-mile red trail, we veered off onto the blue trail. All in all, we walked about 2.45 miles.

When my husband and I hike on our own, we usually go much further; however, my younger son is not terribly fond of the outdoors, and it didn't help that I brushed a tick off my chest and, foolishly, mentioned it aloud. When we got back to the parking lot, we did a thorough tick check of all three of us. PA is a known hotbed of Lyme disease-carrying ticks, so it's imperative to do tick checks. My husband found one on my neck, too--fortunately, it was just hanging out and hadn't begun to bite yet.

If you ever find a tick on you, particularly if it has attached, save the tick in a plastic baggie and log onto tickchek.com. This service, which began in ESU's very own Innovation Center, will test the tick for a number of possible diseases, Lyme included. Early treatment is vital.