Penn State Chics Dig Nerds

 Christmas Eve was beautiful, so we were able to hike Rocky Ridge. This time we took all of the Yoder family with us!

We feel very, very fortunate that we live in a rural area that has a lot of opportunities for outdoor recreation.  And, it is not crowded.  For our second hike of the social distancing time, we returned to Rocky Ridge Natural Area.  Obviously, we love this area.  We wanted to return again before the trees got their leaves and before the rattlesnakes leave their den.  The only problem is that I'll want to return once the wildflowers are up.  This area has some beautiful wildflowers. All of these pictures came from the Hunters Rock area of Rocky Ridge.  The children played hide and go seek for quite a while here.  It was fun for them to climb rocks and hide among the many crevices and "cave" areas.  This downed tree provided some great entertainment as well.  We continued our hike over across the ridge to the Three Sisters area and then backtracked slightly so that we could return to our car via the Dogwood Trail. It...

The children have been wanted to return to Rocky Ridge.  And, they were delighted that they could show one of their favorite places to Grandma and Grandpa.  Since it is archery season, we donned our stylish orange.  Thank goodness for those bright orange soccer shirts from a few years ago. We skipped Hunter's Rocks this time and headed straight across the ridge. Brady is way up there.  Amie and Brady were having a great time running around on top of the ridge.  Near the end of the hike, Amie asked me, "Where's that rock where we squeeze through to get to the other side."  About half way across the ridge, they had run right by that one!  I wondered to Jesse about why they didn't stop when we were at that large rock. While we could still see them, they were quite a bit ahead of us.  We agreed that this was probably the only time we ever just walked by that rock formation! Natalee wasn't feeling particularly well, but she still enjoy...

The weekend before we went to Tennessee, we had a great opportunity to spend Saturday afternoon int he woods.  We had not been to Rocky Ridge or the Standing Stone Trail for quite some time.  This might be our favorite place in Pennsylvania.  So, that's where we headed when Jesse got home from work. This was in the Hunters Rock area. At the beginning of every hike, we always warn Brady that the emergency room is really far away.  He loves to climb up every rock around and he mostly runs on the trail. I had the camera out at the right time.  He just slid off of the trail!  It just served as a good reminder that he can fall sometimes, too. We hiked across the ridge to the three sisters.  Of course, we explored multiple stops along the way. Once we got to the three sisters, everyone was quite tired.  They had played outside all day long before we headed to the woods.  We finished the hike by going down the Dogwood Tra...

Yesterday, we had our first adventure of this year to Rocky Ridge Natural Area.  We hiked from the end of the road and looped around.  It was cold-- I doubt it got out of the 30's.  With the wind, it was definitely a heavy coat, hat, and gloves sort of a day, even with the steep hikes uphill. Nonetheless, it was an absolutely beautiful day to enjoy our favorite local spot.  Brady was circling the rest of us.  Over and over again.  You really need to hike with Brady sometime. As you can see, Brady runs everywhere.  The rest of us explored, but perhaps not as much as normal.  With all of the "caves", "tunnels", huge boulders, and crevices, it is a really neat place to explore.

This past Sunday, we finally got to return to our favorite hiking spot-- Rocky Ridge.  This is the best time of the year to hike, but you only go on Sunday during deer hunting season.  (Do NOT sign those petitions asking the PA legislature to make Sunday hunting legal!!)  The past few Sundays have had rainy weather. This is the Standing Stone Trail.  We stopped at Hunter's Rocks first.  After exploring Hunter's Rocks, we continued on the Standing Stone Trail toward the Three Sisters.  The Three Sisters are a bigger group of rocks about a mile away. This trail has multiple spots where there is a pretty view.  There aren't many leaves left on the trees. We climbed some rocks on the way to the Three Sisters, too.  Finally, we made it to the Three Sisters!  The children climb ALL over the place.  Brady, in particular is like a monkey going from place to place.  Everything has to be explored.  A...

We do love hiking to Rocky Ridge.  Sunday was a really nice day.  It was perfect for hiking. The weather and temperature were nearly perfect.  So, we had to go to Rocky Ridge again.  This time it was just us. We had to take a break. Amie took this picture! My impression of Lewis and Clark.