Rickett’s Glen State Park
September 17, 2024I have been super occupied and haven’t gotten around to sharing my trip to Rickett’s Glen State Park.
When I left Brookville, PA i was heading east on Interstate 80 and stopped at a rest area for a good old fashion leg stretch for me and Brook. When I pulled in I met some awesome people giving out cookies and drinks for Labor Day weekend. We had a good talk and chatted about my trip and the Bible.
One of the guys told me if I wanted to see some amazing waterfalls I need to check out Rickett’s Glen State Park. Since it wasn’t very far from where I was and where I was heading I decided to take his advice and drive on up into the mountains and see these falls he described.
The drive to the State Park was slow. The reason being is my RV doesn’t like to climb steep inclines and I can’t go very fast down the mountain roads because I can’t stop as fast as smaller vehicles. The drive was wonderful even though it took me twice as long to get up the mountain and into the park.
It was late when I arrived and I decided to get a camp site for the night and hike the trail in the morning before checkout at 3:00 pm. Once I got settled in camp it was still light out so I decided to walk to the trail and see what it looked like before attempting to walk it with my dog. I was happy I did because there was no way Brook would be able to safely walk the trail, he is way to playful and some paths were narrow with no railing to stop from falling into river and falls.
Tat night after returning I met up with the man in the campsite next to me and we chatted over a fire about the trail and my adventures. We had several interesting conversations that evening. He had suggested to me that if I wanted to enjoy more time at the park that I could bring my RV to his site and stay the night there so I had more time to hike the trails in the park.
I woke up Monday and had breakfast and left for the falls trail around noon, I wanted to see all that I could during the hike before it was to dark to take photos. Since the mountain side was tree covered so light was hard to find. I took a bunch of photos during this hike and was exhausted when I returned to camp just before 5:00 pm.
That night my new friend and I chatted more about the random things that came to our heads, it was nice talking to someone with a similar mindset which is something I haven’t done in a long while.
I decided the next day that I would work more on my novel series since my new friend offered for me to stay the rest of the week if I wanted to. I had not planned to stay at the park all week but it was beautiful and relaxing, and it would allow me to hike around more and see more of what the park had to offer.
I was excited to get more work done on my book and meet new people staying in the park. A wonderful couple I meet brought me dinner Wednesday night, they made more than they could eat and offered me an amazing dinner, better than the canned soup I planned to eat. When I saw the grilled pork loin with mashed potatoes and a cucumber and tomato salad my heart felt filled. What an amazing couple to bring a stranger with a shy dog dinner.
Soon Friday came and I decided to hike the falls trail one last time with another person I had met that came to visit and take photos of the falls. It was really nice to talk to someone about photography and see such beautiful waterfalls.
I didn’t count each waterfall but there had to be at least 50 or more alone the trail, some were one a couple feet high but the largest was over ninety foot tall.
When Monday came I wasn’t ready to leave the park but I knew it was time to get back to the road and see more beautiful things. I hopped in the shower before leaving, those are rare these days since most truck stops want $20 for a shower. With the extreme budgeting I live with, showering regularly isn’t a real option at that cost so I wash up here and there until I can find an affordable shower.
I headed back down the mountain and made my way south towards interstate 80. Once there it was time for some rest and food so that is where this adventure ended. Read more about my travels in my next article.
