Lost In the Woods

As winter approaches, colorful leaves waft down from gradually barer tree limbs, making each day unique, but Julie and I have patterns that continue wherever we happen to be in almost any weather.

A long walk or hike factors into our daily schedule.

Sometimes those walks take us through our own neighborhood, which happens to be quite lovely, though when I say it "happens to be," that really isn't accurate.  We choose to live places that are beautiful, just as we choose to take vacations with visual appeal among other outstanding attributes.

I missed our morning walk a couple of days ago, so I took a nighttime stroll after dinner instead.  With a crescent moon and very bright Venus accompanied by other stars in the clear sky, it was a perfect evening for a walk.  Historic stone, brick, Dutch colonial, early American and Tudor houses --- many of which are nothing short of mansions --- were illuinated like Thomas Kincade paintings of nights in the Cotswalds.

I tried taking a couple of photos, but they simply didn't come out like the aforementioned Kincade art.  What was supposed to be a quick walk, however, proved to be so lovely that it stretched long enough for Julie to ask upon my return if I had stopped at Burke's Inn or one of the other pubs not far from our house.

About every other day, we drive to various stretches of forest.  Most of the time, we find clearly marked trails that would keep us on track even without Julie consulting maps in advance as she usually does.

The Orange Trail at Ridley Creek State Park might offer challenges without such a clear map, but how hard could it be?

As we headed out, we passed a returning hiker who was about our age.  He stopped to ask if we had ever taken the Orange trail.  We said we had not.  He said that several points along the way we would find offshoots to take us down to the creek --- actually, he said "crick" --- but they would always lead back to the main trail eventually.  Just remember that they always go back to the main trail, he repeated.

No problem.

The walk was beautiful as expected, with fall colors in abundance, and while we saw many offshoots, we tried to stay with the main trail, eventually being led to a lovely spot by the crick where we snapped some photos.

At that point, the trail stopped being quite so easy to follow.

There were many offshoots with no clear path.

We kept finding ourselves on paths that didn't exactly dead end but took us into brambles that mercilously grabbed us.

I started thinking about an old Leon Russell song that hadn't been in my consciousness since the early 1970s, "Out in the Woods" which in my head was "I'm lost in the woods."

Julie's knit pants were ruined, and my increasingly ragged jeans got a bit more ragged, but the jacket I bought on our Antarctica cruise survived all the prickly bushes and later easily cleaned with water and a paper towel.

At some point, we realized we could no longer find a path forward and had no clue how to double back.  

The hike went on considerably longer than we intended, but this time not by choice.

Needless to say, we survived without resulting to cannibalism, eventually finding our way back to our Ford Escape where we devoured the bananas we had brought as a mid-morning snack. 

Haverford College Nature Trail

The next day, we took a user-friendly, familiar hike, returning to the Haverford College Nature Trail loop that we do about once a week.

Haverford College Nature Trail, 11/4/21

VALLEY FORGE RIVER TRAIL

A shopping trip brought us close to Valley Forge, so we hiked the River Trail the next day.  That wide, clear trail was easy to follow as well as quiet and lovely. Of course, there's a great deal of history that unfolded at Valley Forge, which we explored when we visited with Gina and Laszlo five years ago before boarding our Canada/New England cruise.

The Schuykill River that winds between Philadelphia and Pottsville (home of the oldest brewery in America, Yuengling) served General George Washington's need to bring in provisions for his troops at Valley Forge.  Almost 250 years ago, it was bustling with troops and workers unloading flat-bottomed boats, but now it is a serene setting for hikers and horseback riders.

HAVERFORD RESERVE NORTHBOOK TRAIL

The Haverford Reserve Northwood Trail had lots of well-marked trails criss-crossing.  It was beautiful, but located near a freeway had a lot of road noise.

The Frisbee golf course in these woods looks like it would be fun.  I bought a weighted Frisbee long ago (about ten years after Leon Russell released his classic "Carney" album that included the hit song "Tightrope" as well as "Out in the Woods"). 

As we moved from Redondo Beach, that disc went in a box of sporting goods to Jay's condo along with baseball gloves and balls, where there's little assurance it has survived subsequent purges.  Maybe we'll play when he visits.

The day was sunny and relatively warm yesterday, but as Ned repeatedly said in Game of Thrones, "Winter is coming."  Today, however, it looks like another sunny day.

More Photos from Ridley Creek Orange Trail