The Treehouse Blog

I recently finished watching the DVD version of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea from Netflix.  First of all, there were many parts that would have looked much better in HD, but alas Netflix doesn’t have the Blu-ray version.  I had also been thinking this would be more of a tour of the parks, forgetting that this was a Ken Burns film.  It turns out to be a thorough history of the parks, which was interesting for the most part.  Trying to place yourself in the America that still had unclaimed wilderness is challenging, though I guess you can still see that in a trip to Alaska.  As to whether national parks are “America’s Best Idea” … I would say that’s a massive exaggeration, but “one of the best ideas” might qualify.

I’d love to see some of these places in person!

Chris and I went on a weekend expedition to northwest PA this past weekend.  The first stop was Parker Dam State Park on the way north.  Nothing spectacular here, but it is a nice state park about halfway on the trip.  Next was the Kinzua Dam at the end of the Allegheny Reservoir – A very impressive structure, with water thundering through the gates.  We then walked around the Seneca Pumped Storage Reservoir that is located on the mountain above the dam.  We didn’t notice any change in water levels while there, but the huge concrete bowl is pretty cool.

We camped at Chapman State Park, but didn’t really explore there at all.  It was a somewhat central location to branch out from, and had a nice modern campground.

Much of Saturday was spent at Oil Creek State Park and the surrounding area.  We toured a few of the sites there, but it seems that biking would be the best way to explore here.  There is a paved bike trail that follows the Oil Creek.  There are slight remains of the several oil boom towns in the area and many oil wells scattered throughout the park, and a few still seem to be active.  You can sometimes tell there is a nearby well by the smell.  Later we went to the Tionesta Dam and its lake, then hiked to some overlooks back around Kinzua Dam, and drove up into New York, circling the Allegheny Reservoir. Probably should have looked for a tax-free gas station in the Seneca Nation, but didn’t read about that until afterwards.  Did get to see the United Refinery in Warren, PA while driving by.  Pretty impressive looking plumbing!

I could easily spend a week or more exploring that area, but we did OK with the time we had.  Might have to plan something in that area again.

A few things I learned today. None of this is surprising, but there’s nothing like first-hand experience.

1. When on a bike ride, and considering a path that involves walking the bike on a thorny trail, over a fallen tree over a stream, and up a 15ft steep bank with guard-rail at the top, do not ignore your suspicion that the thorns will be bad for your tires.
2. Riding a bike with a flat tire is not sustainable, and will quickly cause the tire to come off the rim.
3. Pushing a bike with a tire that is not on the rim will eventually lead to the inner tube coming out, which will get stuck in things and make the bike non-pushable.
4. Despite Chris Barner’s insistence, generally, you can’t union two bikes together into a tandem bike.
5. Biking with a chest cold is tiring.

The past few days were a pretty good start to the pleasant part of weather in PA. I’ve hiked more than 20 miles over the past few days – 11 with Doug on the Appalachian between Caledonia and Big Flat on Thursday, 5 with my sister around Snowy Mountain on Friday, and 7 with Chris around the Thousand Stairs on Saturday. And on top of that, I managed to get a few things done around the house, too.

Chris and I took a hike on a dead-end road on Bower Mountain last evening. On the way back, I saw a bear crossing the road in front of us at the power line right-of-way. I brought this to Chris’s attention and we both reached for our cell phone cameras too slowly – the bear picked up a bit of speed, perhaps in response to us. We were around 200 feet away. It wasn’t totally unexpected to see a bear, but it was a first-time experience for me while on a random hike in the area.