This is My Pennsylvania - Snowmobiling AQ 284612

 

 Once you have finally found this little park, admire the Warming Hut and then head for the big parking lot across the road.  The roads into the park were blocked off when I visited in August, my guess is that they are only open during skiing season.

 Head to the Mainline trail which is close to the entrance of the parking lot.

 Walk a little bit down the trail, about 150 steps, and look into the woods on the left for some rocks which are behind an eight foot stump.  The rocks are a little hidden by the undergrowth.

 

 Walk off trail about eight steps to the biggest of these rocks.

 Look on the backside of the rock for a camo jar.

 Snowmobiling

This is My Pennsylvania - Picnics AQ 284607

 You HAVE to bring a picnic lunch along when you visit this park.  In fact, if you are able to find this park, you will need to have some lunch!

 

I ate my lunch at a table right next to this sign.

 

It intrigued me so I decided to take a walk along it.  The trail was very muddy and had a lot of moss covered flat rocks which were slippery after the previous evening's rain.

 

And the ferns were giant sized!  I hope you visit this while they are in season.  Below is a picture of one which hit me at waist height.

 There were a lot of soft needled pine trees along this trail, I think they were white pine.  At some points they formed canopies over the trail.

 

 

 There are lots of little curves along this trail but when it begins to turn right at this tree with the faded red blaze, look to your right for a decaying stump really close to a small trunked white pine.  The sun was shining very brightly while I was on this trail so the stump picture below is hard to distinguish.

 

It may be easier to tell you are in the right spot when you see the tree below on the left side of the trail.  Just a side note, as I was checking out the area around this tree, for the first time ever, I saw a thunder of ruffed grouse, the Pennsylvania state bird.  I don't remember ever seeing one before but this time, I watched as I startled at least a half dozen of them.  I wasn't quick enough with my camera to capture them.

 If you see the decaying stump, take about 16 more steps and look to your right about ten steps off trail for this tree with a rock in front of it and one beside it.

 Look between the tree and the rock on its right side. 

 Now you see it!  And then you don't!

Just a word of warning, I just missed stepping on this little guy in the picture below.   He rattled just as I was ready to step on him and startled the heck out of me.  I questioned some snake experts and the park ranger and was told that July and August are rattlesnake mating months and that the snakes are a little more bold then.  I was also told that this area is loaded with rattlesnakes.  Please be aware and cautious and do not reach into holes without poking them first.

Picnics

This is My Pennsylvania - Poison Ivy AQ 284610

 This is one beautiful park and my only regret is that I didn't have time to explore more of the trails.

 Park here.

 Then head down this beautiful trail and listen to all of the little waterfalls.

 

 

Just in case you weren't listening to the little waterfalls, here is what you missed.

 Pass this sign which, unfortunately, is ignored.

 I was totally shocked when I saw this on the left side of the trail.

 Explore the ruins and then head back to the trail.  No, the box isn't at the little rock behind the tree.  It is beside the big rock on the right side of the picture.

 After you stamp in, walk a little further to see the Flat Rock, namesake of the trail.  Warning, if you care to test it out, the kids told me it is VERY cold.

 

Poison Ivy

Training Camp

We made our annual trek to our favorite football team's training camp. This year, the team just happened to be the reigning Super Bowl champions. We saw Ben Roethlisberger, we saw Troy Polamalu, we saw Duce Staley, we saw Hines Ward, and I was getting restless. So I started walking around the beautiful campus.

First I headed to our car to drop off all of the goodies I had purchased at the team store. Shirts and hats and towels and lanyards. Once I was unburdened, I started up the steps at the basilica but headed to the left of the buildings and walked past "venite, filii, audite". After passing a little red fire hydrant, I then walked through a set of arches and spotted a second set of arches.

But before I got to those arches, I noticed that to the left of them, there was a really neat little alcove. As I walked into the alcove, I could see a wooden gazebo straight ahead of me. And when I was standing IN the alcove and facing the training fields, I could see a meditative garden below me. And I also saw a white statue a bit further downhill. But I couldn't quite make out what the statue was so I headed back out the way I came into the alcove.

Just as I passed through the doorway, I dropped my backpack and since it had been open because I had just pulled my notebook out, everything scattered every which way. I picked up all of my belongings and walked downhill to view the statue closer. I then made my way back to the field and refreshed from a little exercise, enjoyed watching the rest of the practice.

However, once we got home, I discovered that I had NOT picked up all of my belongings. I had left a little film cannister laying somewhere around that doorway into the alcove. I thought that I had checked all around the area but it slowly dawned on me that there was one place that I hadn't checked - in the ivy at the base of the little lamppost which was about two feet away from the door. Would someone please check there for me and let me know if it is there? If so, I will retrieve it when we visit the area again next year at the same time.