PA Ricketts Glen State Park: Laurel View/Grand View/Evergreen Trails

 #29 2022 52-Hike Challenge: Ricketts Glen - Laurel View/ Grand View/ Evergreen Trails 4 mi.

I found my way to the Laurel View Trail on the west side of the park which includes the Grand View Trail connector. Some of the loop follows old roads which are wide enough for dog and human to walk side-by-side. The road meets up with the narrow connector trail where it is squeezy tight through mountain laurel and weaves down through glacial till cobble on a narrow path.  The connector reconnects to another old road again to make the loop. Sorry, no grand view. But the woods were full of color and a few critter encounters which more than made up for the lack of vista. This first loop of two I did today was just over 3 miles. 

Laurel View Trail

Striped Maple adorned the edges of the old road and with slender striped trunks and slim branches shimmering in golden light. Hay-Scented Ferns ranged in color from crisp khaki to brilliant yellow while my favorite, the Cinnamon Fern (true to name) popped deep red-brown against the deep green Mountain Laurel. After yesterday's challenging hike up and down the gorges, today mostly flat terrain felt good to walk. 

Striped Maple bark, Acer pennsylvanicum 

Striped Maple twirl in the breeze

Fern and woods marks the shoulder of Red Rock Mountain

I found three kinds of Goldenrod:  Zig Zag, Canada, and Wrinkle-Leafed. I met the Wrinkled-Leaf again at the end of the trail where I parked my truck at the Slate Pit area. Since no other species were found in the slate scree, I assume the Wrinkle-Leafed is much more tolerant of xeric soils found in these old pits and quarries as well as on the hot dry summits, as it turned up en masse on the windswept, dry shale field at the base of the old fire tower. Zig Zag Goldenrod was plentiful in the shady woods where the soil was moist and rich. Canada Goldenrod was abundant in open meadows but not in the woods. Everybody has their favorite place to be, I suppose. 

Wrinkle-leaved Goldenrod, Solidago rugosa

Cinnamon Fern, Osmundastrum cinnamoneum 

Hay-Scented Fern, Dennstaedita punctilobula

The summit of the mountain is home to a modern cell transmission tower (not pictured) and the historic red Rock Mountain Fire Tower. I could just make out the standing waves of mountain ridges that appeared over the tops of trees from where the Wrinkled-Leafed Goldenrod grew but it is still too leafy to see a great distance. Better with winter views, I'm sure. As I stood gawking at the tower, I heard some one coming up towards the intersection of the Grand View Trail just down the old road. I'd parked next to one other truck at the Slate Pit area so maybe this was them hiking counter-clockwise on the loop? 

Red Rock Mountain Fire Tower, 2,449' 

At last count in 2020, there are still 63 historic fire towers standing in Pennsylvania and the Red Rock Mountain steel tower built in 1960 to replace a smaller wooden tower built in the 1940s, is one that is still (but rarely) manned for fire spotting during times of extreme drought. It is one of only 27 historic towers that remains in forest & park service use and it still contains its round-table map on which an Aledade device was attached for pinpointing the exact location of a fire. On special days - usually when maintenance crews are around or for events - the tower is opened for people to climb into the cab. Today was not one of those days. As I stood there imagining a Pennsylvania version of Edward Abbey living the writer's life at 2,500', Amos was distracted by the voices of people coming from the connector trail. 

Tower maintenance road

We turned on to the Grand View Trail and listened to what sounded like two young men having a serious chat. Amos was curious but cautious which made me the same. The giant plop of fresh bear poop I stepped over - and that he somehow ignored - should have been a clue. As we squeezed through a tunnel of Mountain Laurel and bright yellow Sassafras woods,  we rounded a little bend and came within twenty-five feet of two bear cubs wrestling in the path. They made the funniest "little men" sounds but then from the ridge about fifty yards away and above us was Momma Bear. She let out a sudden "OINK!" and those two cubs went scrambling up to her. All three quickly disappeared over the ridge leaving me holding on to Amos with all my might. He never made a sound, probably because I had such a tight grip on his collar he couldn't get a breath. Okay, don't strangle the dog! 

Bear cubs and Momma ahead!

I stood there blinking into the sunlight, excited by what I'd just seen but also really concerned for keeping control over my hound whose breed is known for tracking, chasing, and treeing large mammals. But Amos instead looked up at me and gave a little whine and sat down. I released his collar and just kept a tight hold of his harness and leash until I was sure he wasn't interested in pursuit.  He raised his head to get oriented to the scent of the cubs on the trail but walked calmly past the place where they had rushed up the hill. I grabbed some bear fur from the path and stuck it in my vest pocket. After a bit I wondered why my heart was still beating so loud. It's not like I've never seen bears before. This is my third October encounter with two-cubs-and-momma in the last few years, so I almost expect now to see bears on my PA mountain hikes in autumn. But yet, all I heard was "Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!" Wait....that's not my heart. It was a Ruffed Grouse drumming on a log! I caught sight of it as it darted off once we came into line of sight. Feeling silly, I strolled a little slower to try to catch some late fall warblers (Black and White!) and was rewarded too with a Broad-Winged Hawk fly over as well.  What a great loop this was for critters! 

Evergreen Trail 

It was still early so we drove a few miles to the Rt. 118 parking area at the south end of the park. Here we walked the one-mile long Evergreen Trail Loop to celebrate the finish of our bear-like fast escape to the mountains this week. Amos was a little wary of those slab steps, however. He'd had enough of them yesterday and was somewhat hesitant to go down towards yet another waterfall. "Momma, really? This again?" He carefully padded down to the stunning Adams Falls, where the trail begins its ascent into the slot canyon. I explored the ferny ledges, pools, chutes, and rock formations while he stood obediently on flat ground. Soon my hiking hound was back to his stride as the ledges gave way to forest path. 

Adams Falls 

Being Tuesday morning there were few people but I've heard from others that on weekends and holidays when the park fills with visitors that this most accessible of the great waterfalls, being right off of the road, can become overcrowded and noisy. I was very happy to have the whole slot canyon and falls almost to myself so I savored the quiet woods. Except for a very loud Pileated Woodpecker which I added to my list, the forest echoed only the falling waters and shushed in a light breeze. Up from the creek we slipped by into a stand of huge White Pine.  Two deer bounded up the hill and Amos gave them a little "whisper" bay which, if you've ever heard him whisper, sounds like someone screaming into a pillow.  

Slot canyon sluice and pot holes

Red shale walls

Maidenhair Spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes

Old growth surrounded us, over our heads and on the ground. Massive trunks taller on their sides than I am tall, laid criss-cross over the ground. Some were fallen Hemlock, victims of the Woolly Adelgid. Some were ancient White Pines thrown over by strong winds. Many of the older fallen hulks served as nurseries for tiny Hemlock saplings. I found a little stand of young White Ash near its very old parent towering above. Here was healthy regeneration of the older forest community that included all age ranges in a multi-layered forest.  

Old growth White Pine, Pinus strobus

The entire Glens Natural Area is an old growth haven and the area is member site of the Old Growth Forest Network. 200+ year-old White Pine reach up to 130' feet with 14' diameter breast height. I had to pose Amos among them for scale at base. He looked like a puppy against the closest pine. Three-hundred year-old Eastern Hemlocks, though showing substantial stand decline due to Woolly Adelgid infestation, soared 120' and higher. Even the dead standing trunks, bare white and barkless, were impressive, full of woodpecker holes and cavities that made them animal condos.  Even older second growth areas, untouched by the last wave of logging activity in the early 1900s contained massive, mature specimens just as impressive as the virgin forest. My neck started hurting from staring up and up and up.

Nurse log for a Hemlock sapling

On the ground there were entire gardens of Honey Mushrooms growing at the bases of standing, decaying or dying trees. Many mushrooms were just now releasing their white powdery spores, triggered by the last few days of cooler temperatures. Everything looked like it was covered in a dusting of frost. Lichens formed dense blankets of green, grey, and white over rotting limbs. Looking closely I found tiny colonies of Wolf's Milk, their fruiting bodies erupting from slime molds embedded deep in dead wood. With a careful poke using a pine needle, I was able to make a few of the fruits bleed their hot pink juice. So wonderfully weird!

Honey Mushrooms releasing spore

Wolf's Milk, Lycogala epidendrum

As we rounded the bend to complete the loop of the Evergreen Trail we turned once again towards Adams Falls. It was now about 11am and the sound of traffic and people was growing as we neared the trailhead. Boy am I glad we got here early since the falls area now had several dozen people maneuvering around the ledges and canyon features. I couldn't look. The parking lot was almost full but most folks had gone up the Ricketts Glen Trail across Rt. 118. Amos was so tired! He's a great hiker but after a few days on trail he is ready for a break. He was fast asleep even before I pulled out of the parking area and stayed snoozing for the entire three hour drive home. I wish I could do longer and bigger hikes with him but he's a coonhound who loves his long rests between adventures. 

Champion Tulip Poplar stands at 160' with 10' diameter trunk!

Notes:

Ricketts Glen Park Map:  Laurel View Trail Loop with the Grand View Trail connector are to the west (left) of Rt. 487 while the Evergreen Trail and Adams Falls are at the trailhead parking on Rt. 118 to the south (bottom)