Every year Rich and I, along with my father, attend the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour showing at Northampton Community College. And before the show, which is always in the evening, we choose a place to hike (and, of course, a place for dinner). This year we picked a “new” place to hike—Hickory Run State Park. Rich and I haven’t been there in years, and Dad has never been there. We showed dad the famous boulder field and then hiked the Hawk Falls Trail and part of the Orchard Trail.
Hawk Falls is quick and easy to reach, which is not necessarily an advantage on a warm, dry weekend morning. (You guessed it—the falls were packed by the time we got there.)
From the parking area on the south side of Route 534, just drop down into the woods, descending through towering rhododendrons toward a large footbridge. On the other side of the footbridge, bear right and it’s just a short stroll to the falls.
The other visitors were loud and rowdy, so we didn’t have the most peaceful time right at the falls. But the surrounding trails were pleasant and I had a good time climbing around on the cliffs near the falls. I found an unmarked fisherman’s path right along Mud Run that I followed for a short distance just to see if I encountered anything particularly interesting. (I didn’t, but just exploring trails—especially unmarked ones—is always interesting!)
I also always try to include at least one benchmark hunt in the day’s activities. There aren’t many NGS marks nearby (we found the tri-station HICKORY over a decade ago), so I searched the topo map and identified a few USGS marks that looked like solid possibilities. We ended up finding only one, 75 C at the old Albrightsville schoolhouse.
I was surprised to see the schoolhouse still standing and in very good shape! In 2015, two women from the area decided to reopen the school building and manage it as a community center. It is now officially the “Schoolhouse Central Enrichment Hub.” (Schoolhouse gets new lease on life)
The disk is in good condition, with mostly legible stamping. Note that it is actually stamped C 75 and not 75 C. At the time of our recovery, the disk was concealed by a small wooden planter that is easily moved off to the side to access the mark.
Late lunch was at a new-to-us place called Point Phillips Hotel. Dad’s friend Joe met us there, and we all shared some pierogies thanks to Joe’s suggestion, and entrees such as pork & sauerkraut, ribs, and a southwestern chicken wrap. I couldn’t resist the lemon-berry cake for dessert (I promise I saved half of it, plus half of the ribs, for tomorrow’s lunch).
The short films at the festival were as stunning, moving and thrilling as always! The group agreed, our favorites were “The Great Siberian Traverse” and “Ace and the Desert Dog.” Rich and I also loved the addictive fun mountain biking play in “Danny MacAskill’s Wee Day Out.”