The sun was setting and I knew there would be a full moon, so I hopped in my car and drove to the Old Penitentiary parking lot and set off on the 1.6 mile Table Rock Trail to get some photos.

This is a great hike if you have wasted your day and need to top it off with some drama. The somewhat steep ascent is perfect for making you sweat, and the views are always happy-making.

Many people were on the top watching the sun set. There were families and teens, a couple with a dog that kept peeking over the edge. Once I was ready to head back down, some people showed up with a cooler of… soda? We’ll never know.

The sun set and the bright moon lit-up the hillside. Made it easy to trot back down. Is it just me, or is it gratifying to walk past people struggling (probably less than you did) on the way up?

I couldn’t resist visiting the outside of the Old Penitentiary, clearly visible and emanating creepiness from the bottom of the trail. Constructed in 1878, 10 people were hanged here, the last in 1957. The prison shut down in 1973 because of poor living conditions and riots. It just sits there, under the cross, and an onlooker can only wonder: is it trying to act in some kind of annoying juxtaposition?