Yesterday we drove to northwestern Pennsylvania and attempted to do three of the Volkssport State Park Walks. But first we had to check in at the Fairgrounds Market. A combo market/bait shop/lunch place. It was hopping. To my delight there was a giant coq in front of the store.
Walk 1: I beat Bonnie up the hill!
Moraine State Park is described on the PA-DCNR website as "gently rolling hills, lush forests and sparkling waters disguise a land that has endured the effects of continental glaciers and massive mineral extraction." (Coal mining and oil and gas drilling.)
We arrived at Moraine, put on sneakers and bug stuff, and hit the road. This walk was indeed easy. It was the road around the lake. The lake was huge. It did have a hill, and Bonnie isn't cleared for hills yet, so we took it easy. At about the one mile mark, we headed back to the car, following the path on the lake. Then it was back up the hill to the car.
There were very few people boating and swimming there. I was a little surprised. It was a beautiful day. Maybe the kids are not out of school yet. And it was a Friday.
Walk 2: Jennings Environmental Education Center
We had trouble finding this one. About 2 seconds before we had planned to give up, there it was "Jennings provides a unique combination of prairie and forest, which offers a wide array of resource and education opportunities. One of the park’s main features, the 20-acre prairie ecosystem, is home to distinctive prairie plants and the endangered massasauga rattlesnake. The most noteworthy and spectacular prairie flower is the blazing star. Jennings was the first reserve established in Pennsylvania to protect an individual plant species and remains the only public and protected prairie in the Commonwealth."
Cool, sounds just like my cup of tea. Except did they say RATTLESNAKES? In Pennsylvania? Yep, massasauga rattlesnake. There were signs that stressed you needed to stay on the trails. They are, after all venomous. No need to tell me twice. I walked straight down the middle. We got about a 1/2 mile in and the trails turned to soupy, muddy, watery mess. You stepped in it and your foot sunk in and inch. Ultimately, we turned around and went back. We tried a few other trails, but the same thing always happened. Again, the walk came up short.
Again, we were the only ones there. Before we left, I checked the bathrooms and again, an I-3.5. The Commonwealth is nothing, if not consistent.
The third sight was nearly a hour away from the other two. This time we checked in at a country store. Then drove to the park. The DNCR describes this park as "the site of the world’s first commercial oil well. Oil Creek State Park tells the story of the early petroleum industry by interpreting oil boomtowns, oil wells and early transportation. Scenic Oil Creek carves a valley of deep hollows, steep hillsides and wetlands."
We were the only car in the lot. The Volkssport trail took us on the cross country skiing path in a densely forested area. The blazes were difficult to see because we were following the green ones, which blended in with the canopy, That's not a problem in the winter.
It started gret. The trail was wide, it went right thru a prarie. Then we turned into the woods and there was grass and weeds on the trial. High grass, like my yard when it's overdue to be cut. I'm not feeling real comfortable. Afterall we just learned about the rattlesnakes. We continued. Then we made a turn to the left and there was even more grass. This grass was knee high. We decide to go a little further, and if it didn't improve we were going back to the car and do a tick check.
Thankfully, the super high grass was limited and it returned to just overgrown yard. Clearly this trail isn't used by hikers and walkers, at least yet. And I'm guessing no one does maintenace on the trails. Use should take care of that. I'm kind-of puzzled why the trail was placed here, instead of the hiking trails.
After a through tick check we decided to check out the bathrooms. This time they were traditional latrines, but there was not a hole in a board. There was composing toilets! I guess that would make it a hybrid latrine. L-4.5.
Bonnie set the GPS in the car for the fourth park, and we started driving toward it. We are about 10 minutes away in a Quality Inn in Franklin, Pa. Then we are headed south to Stubbenville, Ohio to do the Ohio border crossing walk. Then on to my sister Barbara's in Louisville.
Happy 60 Bonnie.
Get well David.
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