Adventure through Penitentiary Glen

We pulled in the parking lot and made our way to the gravel path lined with trees filling out with their blossoms and many wildflowers. There were crabapple, dogwood, maple, pines, tulip, oaks, eastern redbud, and birch trees, as well as some Mayapple plants, Crane’s-bill flowers, golden ragwort flowers, and a type of magnolia flower. The white, pink, and purple flowers stood out beautifully against all the different shades of green.

We followed the gravel path until we came to a fork in the road, in which the path we took put us onto a dirt trail headed for the woods. One moment I was standing in an open field with tall grass and medium-sized trees sprinkled here and there and within a few steps I was under a full canopy of trees towering above. The trees were full of bright green leaves which made it seem as if everything I was looking at, was through a green filter. Aside from the dirt path, the ground was completely covered with brown crisp leaves and 5 inches above, hovered hundreds of little saplings.

As we walked, we came across a small brook, which eventually trickled into a creek. When we reached the creek, I took a step down onto soft ground then placed my foot on a wet rock. I moved my other foot to the next rock, but it started to wiggle. I caught my balance and carefully went step by step, rock by rock, until my foot reached stable ground again. We walked along the creek zig-zagging back and forth due to debris and blockage on the sides. I hadn’t really noticed before but we were in a valley in which the river ran right next to the bottom of the cliff. I ran my hand over the soft shale rock and feel the unnoticeable trickle of water over the rock. I pick up a piece and it breaks in half with the slightest bit of pressure. We continued following the creek looking for salamander or small fish in the water, but had no luck.

A while later, we finally found the path and stood at the bottom of a steep hill, which we tried to race up, but in the end left us out of breath and dirty from slipping. As we walked through the woods listening to the many different pitched chirps, I tried looking for the birds, but couldn’t see any because of all the leaves. Then, I heard some leaves rustling and suddenly a black squirrel shot up a large oak. From that point on, we saw so many black squirrels I lost count.

Later in the hike, through a break in the trees, I saw a large bird with a white head and underside with long dark wings, soaring above the tall trees. This was the first Osprey I saw this spring. Watching the bird fly, it looked so peaceful and seemed to ignore all that was happening below. The people walking their dogs, the robins chasing each other through the trees, and the squirrels and chipmunks racing around.

As we continued, the trail started to make its way to the outskirts of the forest. To the left, there was the gorge and thick tall woods, and on the other side, there were tall grassy fields with crabapple and tulip trees filled with blossoming white and pink flowers, as well as a motionless pond. At one point, I looked to my left and saw a very large tree with at least 5 branches coming from the center. It almost seemed to look like a hand coming from the earth. After trying to climb the tree, I saw multiple rock structures about 50 feet away. One of the structures was a wall and another was a well. Later I read that this land was owned by the Halle family, who had built a summer estate and a working farm in 1912. I assume that these structures were built by them.

Shortly after, we passed by a small waterfall. On the top layer of the waterfall, there was a large cement block on the edge of a short drop. The waterfall was running right beside it and on the lower level of drop, there was a large cement piece of stairs and other blocks of broken cement. We climbed down to the bottom and it felt as if I was surrounded by walls. And when I looked down the river, it seemed as if it was just a thin layer of water glazing over the stone below, seamlessly blending the concrete remains with the nature around it. This reminded me of the reading, The Fish’s Eye, when Frazier talks about how mankind and society exist and collaborate with the natural world. About 10 minutes later we climbed out and returned to the path. We walked about 5 more minutes until we reached the parking lot. Our little adventure had come to an end.