Penn State Chics Dig Nerds

I just got back from a wonderful backpacking trip to Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia.  I was with a group of ladies from my parents church-- including my mom. We were going to backpack the entire time, but at the last minute, we changed to backpacking in and setting up a base camp.  We took three day hikes from this spot.  This was a fun way to go.  We got to explore more miles, I think. Our base camp under the cover of trees, with a soft pine needle forest floor. We did hike 5 additional miles the evening we backpacked in. On the second day, we started off on the Rocky Ridge Trail. These cairns told us that there was a pretty view at this side trail.  Indeed, there was a beautiful view of Canaan Valley. At one break, we found this Red-Spotted Newt.  I convinced Mom to climb the rocks with me.  There was such beauty as we were walking across the meadow.  Near here, we saw a bright green snake. These mea...

On the way home from Idaho, we stopped at Badlands National Park.  I had no idea how absolutely fabulous this park is!  I'm so glad that we made time to stop. First, we went on the window trail.  We were disappointed because we were intending to hike the Notch Trail, but it was closed for maintenance.  One reason this park was so great:  The kids could go anywhere.  I didn't have to keep them on a trail!  They say that wind and rain erode the Badlands much more than people do. Next, we hiked on the door trail. k  From the spot I was standing on in the above picture, I had this panorama: I found 3 people hiding in the Badlands! Then I found a vagabond. At the visitor center, they had a room for fossils.  We saw several that have been found in the Badlands.  Additionally, there were a couple of geologists there who were digging around and preserving the fossils that had been recently found.  It wa...

A few years ago, we tried to pan for garnets at Emerald Creek Garnet Area-- but we showed up on the wrong day.  This time they were open!  Emerald Creek is know for having star garnets. As the website says: The garnets found here are called "star garnets" because of a unique property that causes some of them to display a reflection like a four or six pointed star. They would not allow us to dig into the creek anymore (environmental concerns).  But, they pre-dug for us. We dug out of the pile. Then, we used the sifters to separate the rocks from the dirt.  After sifting the rocks, we took them to the sluice box area. Sluicing the rock collection We really did find some garnets!  We didn't find any huge ones, but they were decent.  When we got back to the parking lot, there was a gem guy there.  He looked at our garnets and told us which the best ones likely were.  Then, he polished one for each of us.  Brady ended...

Shoshone Falls was our first stop in Idaho, on our way to Boise.  Our kids always ask, "When can we visit the Hosiers again?"  or "When can we visit the Pucketts and Giblers again?"  On this part of our Idaho journey, they got to spend time with the Hosiers.  As their son excitedly said, "This is really cool.  It's like an extra long play date!" On the way to Idaho the second time (after Crater Lake and Yachats, Oregon), we stopped at Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Valley of Oregon.  It was a zoo of people, especially since the fire damage from last year limited where we could go. Multnomah Falls--The sun was in a bad place.  But, the picture still turned out kind of neat. We also stopped and visited Jesse's great aunt and uncle in Eastern Washington.  It was fun to catch up with them and to see old family pictures.  Several farms were harvesting their wheat, which was fun to observe. Eastern Washington wheat fields.  ...

Our beach cottage was located along the 804 Trail.  This trail heads north along the shore.  We walked past Sand Smelt State Park and found a lovely sit and enjoy the view. Amie had just eaten several blackberries and salal berries along the trail-- her teeth appear a bit blue.  While sitting on the bench, we spotted a couple of whales!  They are probably gray whales. We meandered down to the water.  We found a nice little spot to play and wonder around.  The rocks were really fun to climb on.  Soon after these pictures, I went on top of the rocks. While I was up there, a seal popped his head out the water!  I only saw him that one time, though. I love this picture.  It was so much fun wondering around the rocks and playing in the sand and water.  I told the children that they are lucky that they've gotten in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean this summer.  I thought the water here was co...

The second morning, we explored more tidepools.  Our crab pot was empty.  So, we put it out again. A Nudibranch!  Brady discovered the thrill of feeding the sea anemone.  Here, he found a little dead crab and gave it to a sea anemone.