Pennsylvania
-
The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania | Pine Creek Gorge
A couple of weeks ago Chris and I had one overlapping day as he went to PA to work and I was heading back to Texas. Part of our day together was at Penn’s Cave and the first half of the day was spent at Leonard Harrison State Park and hiking down the Turkey Path to the bottom of Pine Creek Gorge. It was a beautiful hike down as is evident in the photos below. I highly recommend hitting this park up if you are in the area. The trail itself is switchbacked well and maintained nicely. Though I am out of mountain hiking shape and was still huffing and…
-
Penn’s Cave | In Photos
We’d just left Leonard Harris State Park and had lunch when we saw the sign for Penn’s Cave. The sign was a vintage appearing sign, white background with green and red lettering, something you’d of seen in the 50s or 60s while traveling. No address. We had to pull out the GPS and search for it to figure out it was 2.5 hours south of where we were at. We’d already driven 1.5 hours north of Williamsport that morning. Deciding a cave was worth it and that we were being tourists we went for it. We took back roads for the most part, winding and weaving through the mountains, past…
-
Four Mile Run | Sneak Peak
Since Chris and I hadn’t seen each other for two weeks we were able to get a day off together this last weekend in Pennsylvania. I was being sent home and he was going to be there for a few more weeks. We took off to sight-see around Pennsylvania and ended up at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We snaked our way down the trail to see several water falls and then finally to Pine Creek itself. The photo above is just a teaser to the rest I am going to process later this week. I had a bit of fun with this one, it was my first HDR image.…
-
Same View, Same Week, Different Days & Times
Morning of 10/17/2011 Afternoon of 10/17/2011 Afternoon of 10/21/2011 +The overcast definitely makes for more brilliant colors, I think. +I walked on top of the ridge directly across from here. Enjoyed a nice slide down the east side of one the mountains in the rain. Had some incredibly sore legs the following morning. +I will miss views like this the most. +I will not miss the cold weather or this seemingly consistent rain. +Heading back to TX today. +Will probably wish for rain when I return and want cooler weather, too. +HAH!
-
PA Wrap Up
+Heading back to Texas this week. Chris is switching with me, taking my place here while I go home to our cats. Looking forward to being home again and seeing my cats and the garden. +I will miss the hills and beauty of the area. I won’t miss the cold, dreary weather we’ve been having here in PA. It definitely reminded me why I enjoyed Florida winters so much. +Back in April I read on My Topography, Christina wrote about contributing to The 3six5 a blog collaboration. I was interested so I signed up for it. My day was yesterday. Go check it out! It was fun to remember signing…
-
Saguaro Tree
I really think this tree is trying hard to be a saguaro cactus. Sometimes snag trees will have character, but this tree was very much alive and a character of its own. No evidence of a break in the crease so I’m not sure how this tree ended up like this! Want to see it? Hike the Old Loggers Path.
-
Forest Magic
Right now the forest here in PA seems magical. It is in the autumn transition of losing leaves and going dormant. Recent rains have everything glistening and dewy. Perhaps I could venture to say soggy! I know my boots are soggy each day I get done. So many different colors and every day it seems less and less leaves are on the trees. The wind sends so many tumbling down to the ground. Beautiful sphagnum moss A ridge top pond we found. These are more common than I expected. I learned that a lot of these trees on top of the ridges are cherries. They were quizzical little meadows that…
-
Animal Encounters
Last Friday was a good animal encounter day. My coworker Ann and I had just set off down a dirt road towards the area we were supposed to cover for the day when around the bend of the road I spotted something brown. It took about half a second for me to recognize that it was a bear. I said “Bear” to Ann who quickly looked up and we stopped. The bear looked at us for a few seconds, hesitating, and then turned to take off from us. Having seen 20 bears on the A.T. I was not afraid, definitely cautious and was planning on the whole waving hands and…
-
Funky Forest Fungi
It’s been so moist up here that there is a plethora of strange fungi growing. Some are brightly colored, others are just plain large. They definitely add some texture to the forest environment. The top one reminds me of a coral!
-
The Red Eft
My first encounter with these little newts were on the Appalachian Trail. In the spring they were littering the trail and we’d have to be careful not to step on them. Sometimes you can walk absently and not notice that you were inching too close to the little creatures. These newts are in their juvenile terrestrial stage and that can last about two years. Once they reach the adult stage they will move to ponds and wet areas and live their life out there. I have only seen a few out here in PA but they are nice reminders of the AT and the fun wonders of the eastern woods!…