Into the Woods

Into the woods without delay,
But careful not to lose the way.
Into the woods, who knows what may
Be lurking on the journey?
Into the woods to get the thing
That makes it worth the journeying.
Into the woods!
Then out of the woods,
And home before dark!

At the end of our street in the Endless Mountains is access to a forest trail system that leads into World’s End State Park, where it joins up with the 59 mile long Loyalsock Trail.

Although we’ve owned our cottage here for 4 years now, until this summer, I’d never ventured onto the trails that link with World’s End, because, well…I was afraid of getting lost in the woods.

I think it was leftover fear from the time when I was 8 years old and actually did get lost in the woods of a Philadelphia suburb for an hour or so one sunny summer afternoon. That adventure earned me the nickname “Crow Girl” in honor of the bird cries that my Uncle, who found me, claimed led him to me. (I hated that name, by the way…)

My Local Trails

But then a few weeks ago, a kind and wonderful neighbor offered to take us on a guided tour of our local trail system. With a knowledge of the woods gleaned from a generation of hiking and daily walks with her dog, she taught us how to read the trail markers (you read them as if they were laid down on the ground)

and pointed out natural landmarks, flora and fauna,

all the while regaling us with tales of the town. The fact that there were eight of us on that hike (plus two dogs) made the whole thing a real lark and I wasn’t afraid for a moment of getting lost.

This gave Mr TBTAM and I the courage to head out on our own a day later, retracing our previous hike’s steps before venturing just a tad farther along the Yellow Trail, barely skirting World’s End before turning back towards town along the bridle trail. Now we were pointing out the landmarks to one another – spots like Table Rock

Fat Man’s Squeeze

The Pine Woodlands (where you can take the blue trail shortcut)

and The Old Rail Bed.

Canyon Vista Trail

By the time Paula and Tony joined us the following weekend, we were ready to venture off the local trail system and into World’s End on the Canyon Vista Trail. Paula and Tony are veteran hikers, equipped with walking sticks and Paula’s great knowledge of the outdoors, so we felt bolstered by their presence. (Long time readers will remember Paul from our Aquaduct Trail Ride, where she lectured us on the secrets of the black walnut).

The Vista Trail is actually an easy hike, although we needed two separate trail maps to follow our route. From the end of our street, take the yellow access trail to the railroad bed, then take the Red Trail to the park road, turn left onto the road for a short distance till you see signs for Canyon Vista Trail /Loyalsock Trail,

which you follow to the vista.

While at the Vista, take a short hike farther up the hills to explore the Rock Garden –

but do be careful up there as the trails are unmarked.

Fortunately, all you need to do is head downhill and you’ll find yourself in the Vista parking lot. Earlier that morning, we had left a car there to save ourselves the hike back (We had other things to do that day, like roll grape leaves with Paula. I’ll show you that in another post…)

So them’s my woods, folks.

I still would love to get me a good GPS for the fun of it, and join in on the many hikes sponsored by the Eagles Mere Conservancy and the Alpine Club. I feel like a whole world has opened up to me now that I’ve taken the plunge into World’s End, and I hope to someday know these woods like the back of my hand and teach them to my grandchildren.

One Last Thing

Oh yeah – There’s one more thing I need to tell you about my woods…

There are bears.

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Into the Woods, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim