An Autumn Visit To Mansfield University And Tioga County.

Last weekend I decided to visit my nephew Mike, who is a sophomore at Mansfield University and to check out the Fall foliage   om my way.   I have never visited  the university  town of Mansfield before. It is located in Tioga County in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania. 

It was a good time of year for the visit. The annual display of Fall colors were almost at their peak in this part of our State. And I enjoyed the scenery on my 2 hour drive from my home in Luzerne County. It was mostly sunny and a pleasant 60 degrees when I arrived. My nephew was still in class so I had a chance to explore the University. 

Founded in 1857, Mansfield University is a small college  located on the side of hill in the small town of Mansfield. I parked near the President’s  House and began my walk through the campus. 

I have always loved to explore college and university campuses. Like trees (each with a trunk)  all are so  much alike,  and yet differ  (the branches).  Each all have in common the buildings, such as dormitories, libraries,  classroom buildings and gymnasiums. But the architectural  styles are all different, as are the trees, monuments and gardens on the campus.  On my walk in Mansfield I  first came upon some of the modern  dormitories. 

In the distance I saw some large oak tress on a hill and had to explore and search for some wild mushrooms. I never give up on my pursuit of wild edible mushrooms as followers of my blog would know.

Finding no mushrooms under these ancient oak trees I returned to the street. My nephew told me there are a lot of hills and I soon found this to be true. I walked up steep Morris Drive to the upper campus. 

Here I found some nice views of the lower campus and the distant mountains. 

and  surrounding countryside. The surrounding area is rural and many farms could be seen in the distance. 

Hoping to find an even better view I walked up to the water towers on the hill overlooking the campus. 

Here I found indications of what the college is known  for, it’s music program, and 

it’s environmental studies program. 

The soccer and football fields are also located on the hill top. I learned that the first night football game played under electric lights was played here in 1892. 

Leaving the upper campus I walked down the steep hill and past more older classroom  and administration buildings.

One of them Retan  Center  caught my interest when I saw sculptures of the signs of the zodiac adorning its walls.

I always am interested in the statutes, sculptures and murals I find on m travels.  Here is a link to a gallery with all of the zodiac symbols from the building and other objects I found on the campus. Tioga County University hike October 9 2020

My exploration of the campus continued. I found a number of memorials and more old buildings. 

Before I could finish my quick tour of the campus  received a call from my nephew that he finished class. I met him near my car. Also at my car was this cat, who quickly became our friend and welcomed me to Mansfield. Here is a link to some more photographs from my walk around the  campus Tioga County University hike October  9 2020.

It was now around 3 p.m. and we decided to visit a wetlands area near Wellsboro , about 20 miles away. I have been at the the Muck once before. It is usually home to many species of ducks and waterfowl. 

Unfortunately, we saw  few birds on our short walk to the bird blind located near the edge of the marsh.

There were many red-winged blackbirds migrating through the area, a few mallard ducks and a flock of Canada geese that flew overhead. 

It was still nice to be outside in the afternoon soon and enjoy some late Fall flowers and

the Fall colors. 

There were not many areas to hike   in the Muck so we decided to drive to nearby Hills Creek State Park. First we stopped at Pag-Omar Farms Market   located next to the Muck where I bought some nice frying peppers. Their produce looked delicious. 

It was another twenty minute drive to Hills Creek State Park and on our way we saw a flock of ring-necked pheasants in a field. 

 It was now late in the afternoon when we arrived and the early October soon was already low in the sky. 

The Fall colors were at their peak here in the park.

We walked down to the lake, were we again saw some mallard ducks and Canada geese. 

As we stood along the lake my nephew spotted a bald eagle fly from the trees along the lake.  The majestic bird flew overhead and I lost it in the sun as I tried to get a photo. Much to our surprise the eagle turned and dived into the lake right in front of us! It missed its  target, probably a fish,  and flew off. Unfortunately, this was the best photograph I got of this wonderful experience. 

We thought the eagle may have flown into some pines trees on the other side of the lake so we drove over and searched for the bird but didn’t see it. It was now near 6:00 p.m. and  we decided to end our day and head back to Mansfield.

On our ride we encountered some deer in the many farm fields along the way.

We stopped to watch these always graceful creatures before heading into town and enjoying a nice meal, and conversation, at the Lambs Creek Restaurant.  I retired soon after dinner  my we planned an early  hike in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.  Here is a link to some more photographs from our visits to the Muck and Hills Creek State park. Tioga Park evening October 9 2020. 

“No man should escape our universities without knowing how little he knows” Robert J. Oppenheimer. 

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