Larry A. Smail's Blog

    I was up and about early this morning of May 17th. I planned to head to the Black Moshannon Forest area to see what I might do…hike…fish… ??                                    

I traveled through Renova, Pennsylvania and headed south towards the Black Moshannon Forest. I was blessed to see many beautiful landscapes along the way. I stopped at various places to stand in awe and take photos. Many hollows would have thick fog settled in giving the illusion of cotton candy.  At some of these sites I could literally see for many miles. WOW!

Beaver lodge

I arrived at the forest around 9:00 A.M. and began to hike an eleven mile Moss-Hanne Trail. I chose this trail for the challenge of often being in bog and wetland areas. These areas have wildflower species one can not find elsewhere. I hoped to see some of these flowers and others. I wasn’t disappointed!

Fringed Polygala

Painted trillium

I found a number of Painted Trilliums. This specie seems to need the rich areas of the state with acid in the soil. I don’t believe they are found in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. They are smaller in size than the white and purple trilliums found locally at home. The smaller size, however, yields much more color on the three petals.

I found a lot of Pink Lady’s Slippers on the hike. These flowers are a very demanding flower. The needs are crucial for their survival. Never pick them! This flower, sometimes called the Moccasin Flower, is native in Armstrong County. I know of a few sites where they can be found. Past land practices have destroyed many of these beautiful and interesting flowers from our area.

Pink Lady’s Slipper

I found a specie I had never seen before. I looked the small deep pink flowers up. They are the Fringed Polygala. This flower is only a few inches high. The book claimed this specie is found throughout Pennsylvania except the western counties.

Bunchberry

I was shocked to see another specie, I knew of, but had never viewed before. This flower is known as the Bunchberry. It grows on an eight inch stem and looks a lot like a dogwood blossom. The fall seeds are even red like dogwood. This one specimen was the only one I found. It requires high elevations and bog areas.

The hike ended up on a paved park road.I began to have difficulty with my feet. The rubber boots caused much heat and discomfort and I need to walk 3.5 to 4 miles to reach the car. The temperatures were climbing too. A ranger hauled my appreciative “butt” the last mile. I would remove my boots and walk barefoot for a while at times.

I decided to head to Clearfield, Pennsylvania to check out the gun stores and hopefully locate my friend, Howard Meyers’ home. After asking several people where the road was I was able to locate it. Now, to find his home! I had a phone number, but apparently I wrote down a wrong number for I would get a business.

Eventually, I located the address on a mailbox.The house set back in the woods so I had driven past it. Howard had left 15 minutes before I arrived. He later tried to call my cell but I had turned it off since I couldn’t call home yet.

I arrived home later in the evening, happy to see the family again.