Back In The Mountains: A Hike In Ricketts Glen State Park.
For over a month now all of my weekend hikes have been along rivers, lakes and bays. I have been exploring the Susquehanna, Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers. I live a few miles from the the watersheds of all three of these rivers. Last weekend I decided to hike in the mountians. So I headed to Ricketts Glen State Park, located in Sullivan, Columbia and Luzerne Counties, about 40 miles from my home.
I remember spending many hours sitting on a northern rocky ridge on Stony Mountain near my home in southern Luzerne County and enjoying the view of the North Mountain on the distant northern horizon. . I first hiked in the Ricketts Glen State Park while in college and didn’t return until three years ago. I last visited about a year ago. This 13,000 acre park atop North Mountain almost became a National Park in the 1930’s because of the famous waterfalls and old growth forest. It was cloudy when I arrived at the park, and unlike on my last visits, the parking lot was empty. There was only one other car on the lot. Like my last two visits, I decided to hike on the Bears Walk Trail rather than the more popular Falls Trail. 
I chose the Bear Walk Trail for two reasons, I wanted to visit Lake Jean and I also wanted to see if I could find some edible mushrooms under the mostly hardwood forest. It was dark under the overcast skies and large old trees along the trail. 
And it was quiet. I did not see or hear any birds or other wildlife as I began my hike. I did hear the voices of a youth group that was camping near the trail as they talked and laughed around a morning campfire. I loved the smell of the smoke from the campfire. 
I walked under the shade of the mostly oak, maple,and beech trees with a few eastern hemlcok , hornbeam, black cherry and one of my favorite yellow birch trees.I love the sonetime twisted roots of the yellow birch. 
Intermediate ferns grew along the trail. 
Finally, I heard, and then saw a few birds. A small flock of Black-capped chickadees were fluttering in the trees along the path. 
I came to a clearing along the trail,
and here I saw some late blooming wildlflowers including, New York asters, 
calico asters,
hairy asters, and
wrinkleleaf goldenrod, all native to our area.
I also saw ox eye daisies and
some meadow buttercup flowers still blooming. Both of these species are invasive. 
Hay-scented ferns grew near the clearing. These ferns create a wonderful oder in the fall, especially after the first frost. 
As I continued my hike toward Lake Jean I also began to find a lot of edible honey mushrooms. My family called them “popinkies” a Polish name for these delicious mushrooms. Other folks in the anthracite coal region call them “stumpers” or “stumpies” since they grow around tree stumps. Many of them were older but I was able to gather enough for my dinner,
along with some edible puffbal mushrooms and,
brick top mushrooms. Mushroom harvesting is allowed in Pennsylvania State Parks and Forests, provided they are for personal consumption. 
There were also a few other species of mushroom growing, which surprised me since it has been for dry in our area, including this species of amantia, yellow pattches, I believe, 
shaggy pholiota 
and this shelf fungus, I am not sure of the species. 
After about a mile the trail brought me to Lake Jean. It was not as scenic as it is under a blue sky in mid Summer but it was still a nice place to reflect on the changing seasons and the Fall and colder and darker days ahead. The beach was deserted except for,
a small flock of dark-eyed juncos and
a couple of chipping sparrows. 
I left the beach and visitor center at Lake Jean, 
backtracked a bit on the the Bear Walk Trail to the Falls Trail. Here I finally saw a few couples hiking on the trail. 
The Falls Trail continued under a mostly hemlock woodland for about a 1/2 mile. There were some dead oak trees along the trail where I found some more honey mushrooms. 
The trail split at the Cherry Run Trail. I walked along this trail to the ruins of a dam that was built in a failied attempt to produce hydroelectric power. I had more information on this and more history of Ricketts Glen in my previous blogs which can be found using the search tool here on my blog post. I had hoped to see some bird activity here, but like most of my hike it was quiet. 
I found these inky cap mushrooms
and wood asters growing along the trail. 
I returned to the Falls Trail ,
and followed it down Glen Lehigh. I now started to see a lot of hikers on the trail,
and it got even more crowded when I left the Falls Trail and followed the Highalnd Trail back to the Lake Rose parking lot. 
There were partridge berries growing along the trail, 
and I learned I wasn’t the only one foraging for wild mushrooms. I found this cut hen of the woods ( we call them ramshead) meushroom. Someone had a nice meal in addition to a nice hike in the park. 
The trail now took me up a ridge which overlooking the glen and with large bouders now strewn along the trail. 
I saw more hikers as I came to the Midway Crevasse a large rock formation on the trail.
I walled past the huge boulders
and hiked up the trail passing dozens of hikers heading down to observe the famous waterfalls.
Along the trail I saw these bracket mushrooms. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the flowers and mushrooms I saw on my hike. Ricketts Glen State Park flowers and mushrooms September 21 2024. 
I arrived back at the parking lot which was now filled with cars and many people walking down to the trail. 
I had hiked 4 1/2 miles so I hiked another 1/4 mile on the Lake Rose trail to get in my usual five mile hike. I had hoped to see more wildlife, but. like my previous walks in September most of the song birds had already headed south. I was still surprised not to see the many woodpecker and other birds that remain here in our Winter .Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my hike. Ricketts Glen State Park September 21 2024. 
It was still a nice hike and I did get enough edible mushrooms,
for a nice Saturday dinner. I cooked them up with some fresh long hot peppers, onion and tomatoes and served them with teriyaki salmon and an ear of fresh corn I got on the drive home. It was a nice day in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania on the last day of Summer. 
“The end-of-summer winds make people restless.” – Sebastian Faulks
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