The Foliage Show in Pennsylvania

With decent weather and excellent foliage prospects, my husband and I went backpacking in the Pennsylvania wilds on Friday and Saturday. Sproul State Forest, to be more specific. We got a bit of unexpected drizzle on Friday afternoon, and so I loosely draped the fly over my tent. We almost never go backpacking when precipitation is expected, but when I saw how cute my tent looked with the fly on it, I decided to leave it that way overnight, just for something different.

Our low temperature overnight was 33 degrees F, and so the fly gave me a few degrees of temperature I wouldn't have had otherwise; my toes were finally warm enough. It also kept the near-full harvest moonlight off my face, so that I could sleep. I unzipped the parts of the fly around the doors, and attached the one to a nearby tree. My tent suddenly looked like a flying buttress, which was even more fun. An interesting combo approach.

I have a love-hate relationship with Big Agnes, the blow-up sleeping pad that I typically carry. It takes anywhere from 12 to 25 minutes to pump it up, an operation I find tedious. Also, when I scrooch around in the night, as I often do, it makes weird squeegee type noises that I worry will wake my husband in his nearby tent.

So, sometimes I rebel, and I take several regular flat sleeping pads instead. That is what I did this time. As it turns out, my act of rebellion did not go unpunished: without Big Agnes, I woke up feeling like my body had been run over by a truck, sore from shoulder to back to hip. Yep, next time, Big Agnes gets to come along.

Saturday, around noon, we packed up our gear, walked out, and got in the car and went on a foliage peeping expedition. There is a nearby pipeline that we sometimes go sled riding on in winter time, and so we took our chairs and went there for an hour, before it was time to head home.

The foliage show is quite variable, as we observed that one side of a hill might have glorious colors, and the other side of the same hill might still be fully green. Above is a photo of the foliage show along the pipeline showcasing one of the best spots we saw. In the extras is a photo of the colors in the trees near where we parked our car to go backpacking. Yes, it is definitely time to go out and see the show!

The changing of the colors sometimes reminds me of this song by Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colors. I'm including a version by just Dolly, and one by Dolly Parton and Shania Twain. Enjoy!