First Day Hike welcomes new year in state park

Dozens of people took their first steps of 2024 with a First Day Hike at Cape Henlopen State Park on New Year’s Day.

“We don’t go out on New Year’s Eve; we go out on New Year’s Day,” said Mark Valesey of Lewes. 

He and his wife, Bridget, were among the crowd who headed out on a guided tour around the Point.

“It’s a great way to begin the year experiencing nature and all that it has to offer,” Bridget said.

The route started at the Point comfort station. It took hikers along the bay side, around the tip of the Point and back up the path through the dunes on the ocean side. 

Kathleen LaForce, a program coordinator and naturalist at the park, led one of two groups on the walk, which covered about two miles.

LaForce has worked at the park for 10 years, but this was her first First Day Hike. She revealed some interesting facts along the way.

“The Point has been growing anywhere from 1 foot to 4 feet a year. We don’t know what’s going to happen. It may turn into an island or it could be a point forever,” she said.

LaForce pointed out horseshoe crab shells, invasive grass on the dunes, birds and even a seal bobbing its head in the ocean just off shore.

“At low tide, they come out. Check out the rocks around the lighthouse,” she said.

For some hikers, it was an opportunity to make it all the way out to the Point, which is only open to the public from Oct. 1 to March 1 because it is closed in the summer for nesting piping plovers.

First Day Hikes were also held at other state parks around Delaware.