With the housing market slowing, we headed for Ohio. On the way we
stopped at Pennsylvania’s Hickory Run
State Park.
SHADES OF DEATH
This is our second trip to this park. We stopped here 15
years ago when we hiked the Shades of Death trail. We decided to hike it again,
but this time following letterbox clues and hiking some additional trails (Sand
Springs Trail and Hickory Run Trail). Despite the name, the Shades of Death
trail is a pretty trail following a cascading stream through rhododendron
thickets. It is too bad we missed the blooms, but we enjoyed the hike.
 |
| Possible reason for the trail name. |
ORIENTEERING
One series of letterboxes at Hickory Run
State Park is planted in
conjunction with an Orienteering course. Orienteering is a sport where one uses
navigation skills to race from point to point called controls. Here is a map of
one of Hickory Run’s Orienteering courses.
Each control also had a brief description of the location,
like:
1- SE
of intersection
2- Depression
3- Near
power line
So one uses the map, descriptions, and a compass to follow
the course of controls.
If you were doing a real Orienteering race you would note
the letters on the control and race on to the next control. But for Barbara
this was a nice walk in the woods and once she found a control she sought a
letterbox hidden nearby.
HAWK FALLS & FIRELINE TRAILS
Bill hiked to two scenic spots. He hiked to Hawk Falls
and even scrambled to the top of the falls.
Then he hiked the Fireline Trail to the overlook of the
Lehigh River and Lehigh
Gorge State Park.
