Chat with Deb—A Happy Stroll Through the Woods

Wait… we’re not allowed to go WHERE? What?!

A coal-powered plant (with the smokestack belching) and a former nuclear power plant that is in the process of being brought back online. Oh, we live not far from Three Mile Island; I’ve mentioned that before, right? Well, anyway, Rocky Ridge Park has a lovely view of it. (all photos by author)

We’re going through a cold snap, just a few days after the temps got so warm that we had to turn on the AC. So temps over 90°F last week, freeze warnings this morning—welcome to south central PA in the spring! Anyway, Deb and I decided to go hiking, because we like to do that, and there’s a delightful park with trails just up the road. We carefully plotted our route during breakfast, then jumped in the car with our hiking poles. The sky was blue and clear, the traffic was minimal, the big sign at the entrance had warnings up…

Wait, what?

The park staff had warnings (“ACTIVE TIMBER HARVEST — STAY OUT!”) on the main entrance road and on the foot paths, in multiple places, because you just never know if some civilian is going to wander into areas they shouldn’t be in. (DEB: That would be Jack. Just so you know.)

DEB: The main road is closed? So we can’t get to the main parking lot! (this was going to be our starting point, which gave us access to the easier trails)

ME: Okay, so we park in… no we don’t, that’s closed off too!

DEB: So they’re doing an “active timber harvest”? Oh, okay, that makes sense, they can thin out some areas that are overgrown, they can get trees that fell down over the winter off the trails—