By Shelby
This week, we spent a lot of time in eastern Pennsylvania, where we saw plenty of great fall foliage. Monday we worked from the library at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Because it was a holiday, we were able to use the university parking lot for free. That is one issue with using university libraries. Parking can be difficult to figure out and often requires a permit from the university. But it worked out Monday.
Tuesday, we took off from work because the weather was supposed to be nicer than Thursday. Our plan for the day was to go to Ricketts Glen State Park, which was about 45 minutes from Wilkes-Barre. The drive there was nice. The roads took us through the mountains where we saw great fall foliage.
At Ricketts Glen, we planned on doing a 7.5 mile hike where we would see 21 waterfalls. It was such a great hike. It was similar to Watkins Glen in New York, but even better I thought. The first half of the hike followed along the river and went uphill. It was much busier than I had expected for a weekday, but the weather was great.
Throughout the first half of the hike, each waterfall was nicer than the last. Each one was unique and beautiful in a different way. I even experimented with long exposures on my camera, which made the photos of the waterfalls look smooth and silky. About halfway through the hike, we made it to another parking lot where we ate a quick snack.
The second half of the hike was back downhill and followed along a different section of the river before they came together. It was crazy that there were so many waterfalls in such a small area. And we were shocked that they were all rather large. We expected a few larger falls and several small cascades. We wondered if there was a height requirement to be an official waterfall. By the end of the hike, our legs were pretty tired and we were ready to be done. We rewarded ourselves with dinner from Chipotle back in Wilkes-Barre.
Wednesday, we worked from a local public library instead of the university. The library had weird hours, which is why we hadn’t worked from there Monday. The public library was interesting. They had a small jewelry counter where they were selling jewelry. They also had a small clothing job. That seemed pretty unusual. Thursday, we worked from the Wilkes University library again in the morning. When the public library opened at noon, we went there. It really takes a lot of planning and research to figure out where the best place is to work every week.
Friday, we had planned on doing another hike near Wilkes-Barre called the Turkey Path. Unfortunately, there were two Turkey Paths on Google Maps, one being half an hour away from Wilkes-Barre and the other two and a half hours away. And the correct one was not the one just a half hour away. So we decided to skip the hike and spend the day relaxing and playing Minecraft instead.
Friday evening, we drove to Loyalsock State Forest, about an hour drive from Wilkes-Barre. We had gotten a free permit to camp at one of their primitive campsites. It was very remote. We tested out our small portable campfire since we hadn’t gotten any firewood. It was basically a very large candle. For dinner, we had ham and salami sandwiches on sub rolls. The campsite was very dark and quiet that night. When we were looking at the stars, we saw a shooting star, which was pretty cool. It was also very cold that night, so we bundled up. We hadn’t wanted to set up the tent, so we just slept in the car. It was more comfortable than a tent anyway.
Saturday morning, we drove a short way away to World’s End State Park. We were going to do a 4 mile hike to a Canyon Vista, which the trail was named for. The trail followed along a river at the beginning. The fall colors were very nice. Once the trail went away from the river, it started getting steeper and steeper. It was quite the workout. There was a small viewpoint of the canyon below partially up the mountain. The wind blew a bunch of leaves off the trees and they floated around us and into the canyon.
The Canyon Vista was beautiful. Except for the road with construction. But the leaves on the trees and the river were nice. After taking a bunch of pictures, we continued on the trail which led us back down the mountain and to the parking lot. After eating lunch, we drove out of the park and toward New York. Our next city was Binghamton, New York, where we would be staying for a few days.
Sunday, we did laundry, worked on the website, and then went to a park to relax and play Minecraft. It’s going to get below 40 degrees the next few nights, so we got an Airbnb from Monday to Thursday in Norwich. Later next week, we plan on checking out a few state parks near Utica before heading west to Rochester. It’s nice to be back in New York after months of being away.
Fun Facts from Week 25 :
- The exact definition of a waterfall is unclear. Some sources state a minimum height is required, but this can range from 5 to 20 feet. The shortest named waterfall along the falls trail at Rickets Glen State Park was listed as 11 feet. The highest was 94 feet.
- The name origin for the Loyalsock forrest and creek comes from the Native American name Lawi-Saquick which means “Middle Creek”. The creek is located between Muncy Creek and Lycoming Creek.
