Hiking and Biking the Pine Creek Trail near Tioga, PA…

Ives Run COE Park near Tioga Pennsylvania is one of our favorite COE parks. The sites are huge with full hook ups and 50 amp service. It is also the most expensive COE park we have been to as well with rates of 40 per night ($20 with our America the Beautiful senior card).

This is a great park for biking and walking all around the park. We did a nearly 3 mile walk within the park with great views of the lake all while walking up the dirt road to the primitive camping loop. In addition its location is close to lots of other hiking and biking places.

One such place we visited was Hills Creek State Park. We planned to hike the three mile Lakeside Trail around the lake during the eclipse. From this location the eclipse was said to cover 73% of the sun so we thought it would be fun to hike during it. We didn't purchase viewing glasses as we enjoy looking down rather than up as the shadows through the trees onto the trail yields perfect crescents during the eclipse.

We proceeded to where we thought the trail started but had a hard time staying on the trail as it was poorly marked. The highlight was meeting campers Dan and Donna who were donning their eclipse glasses to watch the big event. We chatted with them a bit and they even shared their glasses with us so we could view it as well. I had been content with simply watching the crescent shaped shadows from the eclipse on the road as we walked around the park during the eclipse but it was an added treat to share the big event with these nice folks.

Our last afternoon, since the predicted rain was holding off, we drove over to the small town of Ansonia and spent about thirty minutes driving the roads looking for the Darling Run Parking Access Lot for the Pine Creek Rail Trail. We read about this 64 mile hike and bike trail that meanders along Pine Creek at the bottom of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Again it was hard to find but our persistence paid off.

Knowing that impending bad weather was steadily approaching the area we decided to ride in about 5 miles and then back in an effort to avoid any severe weather.  We were under a tornado watch until 9:00 pm. The trail was composed of very fine crushed black rock making the surface nearly as good as pavement, What an excellent trail!

We were happy to discover what a scenic bike ride this trail provides. Every bend gave us a glimpse of the clear flowing Pine Creek. Geese were frolicking in the creek and I am sure if we were on this trail early in the morning we would see a lot of wildlife as well.

We started at the 8.5 mile mark of the trail and rode to the 14 mile marker before turning back to our car. We would love to ride this entire trail and one could easily do it since Pine Creek Outfitters (their website is where I lifted the trail map) has a shuttle system that can be hired to drive your car to the other end and have it waiting for you.

We did find an interesting brewery while we were driving around the town of Mansfield touring Mansfield University which was founded in 1857. The brewery was named Yorkholo Brewing Company and even though their beer wasn’t all that great they had an interesting “Mug Club.” Those who joined their club would receive a handmade ceramic mug made by a local artisan. The mugs were pretty cool and with them all lined up on the wall it made for a pretty backdrop to the bar.

Luckily the weather was not nearly as severe as expected so we thankfully be able get a good nights rest prior to our travel day to our next stop near Syracuse NY.

NOTE: We leave over to our next stop near Syracuse NY in Brewerton then on to stops in  Ogdensburg and East Chazy NY to make it through Labor Day.

We Are… Strolling Around the Penn State U. Campus…

One of our quests while we have been full timing has been to visit the many large colleges and universities in our country. When we started to look for where we wanted to head next we felt we just had to go to State College Pennsylvania and see Penn State University (PSU). From Gettysburg PA we headed north for around 118 miles and pulled into the 7 Mountains Campground just a few miles south of State College PA.

We will only spend two nights as the RV park is on the very expensive end to us at $42.50 per night but we figured we could see all we wanted to in the day and half we would be here. We hit the ground running the first day as we drove all around State College to get a feel for what we wanted to do and what we wanted to see.

First up for us was the PSU arboretum and botanical gardens which was a great spot to visit all by itself. We walked all around it while enjoying all the flowers that were blooming as the bumble bees were really working them over. We even spotted a solitary bunny enjoying itself while feasting on the horticultural bounty.

Afterward we checked out Otto’s Brewery where we sat at the bar and ended up chatting with a very nice fellow who played college football and then got into sales. Before he left he told us several must sees in the area and even bought us a round of beer!

The next day we drove over to the free parking at the PSU arboretum and  found a marsh meadow walkway over to the main campus. The night before we downloaded a walking tour from the university website. PSU is a rather large sprawling campus and most of the buildings are composed of a similar red brick exterior. Although it is not the most scenic of campuses we have visited, it is steeped in history as it was founded in 1855 and it has the largest dues paying alumni association in the USA. Impressive!

The campus was bustling with activity since it was move in day for the students. Many of the 46,500 enrolled students and their parents were everywhere but we still enjoyed our leisurely stroll about the campus. The most impressive building we came across was the one called Old Main. Of course we had to take the obligatory pictures of all those new to the campus so we posed before the Nitany Lion statue (their mascot).

Nittany as it turns out was derived from an Indian word and means single mountain which refers to a local landmark named Mount Nittany where it was said that mountain lions once roamed. We also had been told by several people to visit the on campus Berkley Creamery so we made sure to share a pint of their Death by Chocolate ice cream (yum).

Of course we had to tour the athletic facilities as well and the PSU football stadium sits atop a small hill and is quite impressive. We sure wished it had been open to the public so we could have seen it inside. Nonetheless we still enjoyed our walking tour of PSU but it was time to leave and head home. Next up for us is a return visit to a very nice COE park near Tioga PA called Ives Run.

NOTE: We leave to Ives Run COE park near Tioga PA tomorrow morning. Then we move into New York for stops in Brewerton, Ogdensburg and East Chazy.