The Pennsylvania Backpacker, Late October Edition

We spent a peaceful night in the woods of Moshannon State Forest. When morning came, even before first light, the timber people were at it again, but they seemed to have moved a bit further away, and the sound wasn't quite so annoying. Still, the idea of perfectly healthy trees being removed from the woods offends me. So if you'll pardon my saying so, I wasn't a happy camper about any of THAT.

But it was fine, and fun, as always, to play house in my tent in the morning. I sat in my little chair, my sleeping bag around me, a blanket over me, reading my book, eating a yogurt, and watching the sun arrive through the trees. It was a very good show, to be sure. Everything is just prettier in October.

We weren't in any hurry again, as we weren't that far from home, so we didn't have far to go on our return trip. We didn't leave the campsite until 2 pm. And this time, I was looking for our pathway out too far up the hill, and it was my husband who located the white bag that marked our way out. He removed it and tucked it into his pocket. Such a strange strategy we've come up with, but it seems to work!

And then we walked back to the car. Back up the nothing trail to the deer trail, from there to the old woods road. And onto the main pathway once again, which as you can see above, is looking very Octoberish indeed! What a difference a month makes for the foliage colors!

We decided to take a little trip down to Black Moshannon State Park to see what the foliage colors were like there, and you may see a photo of the view from the swimming area in the extras. The two trees in the middle were both bright red the last time we visited. This time, the one on the left is done, and the one on the right still has some red. Behind them, the oranges and yellows have filled in nicely.

And here's a tip straight from me, a world champion foliage hound, to you: if you are waiting for ALL of the trees to be pretty and colorful all at once, you are in for big disappointment, my friend, as it hardly ever happens that way.

So it's a useful strategy to try to enjoy the fall foliage show as it comes, instead of complaining all day long and wishing it were something else. Yes, choose to enjoy the best of what IS right now, instead of whining about what you wish it were!

After Black Moshannon, we grabbed a hoagie for our supper at a hoagie shop on the hill, tossed it into the cooler, and made our way home. And that is the story of Day 2 of our big backpacking adventure!

The soundtrack song for this day is U2, with the title track to their album October.

P.S. Here is a shout-out to our dear Tabbycat Dexter, who left us on this day in October 2020. Stories about that appear here and here. Dear Dexter, you are well loved and sadly missed.  <3