Summer Escape

The kids and I haven't taken a vacation in 3 years. So what we do is take day adventures to local hideaways like this. I used to come here as a child once in awhile, and this was the first time I brought Derek and Dalton, even though it's only 25 miles out of town. Getting there, it felt like I was driving forever. We made stops along the way, but the goal was to find the spot along the 'creek' called Big Falls. It's nearly impossible! You cannot see the water from the road, the trees are very dense and the only way to get to the creek is to hike down one of the very well hidden and very steep paths along this rather primitive dirt road. There were just a few people scattered along the way with their dogs and so one of them clued me in. Big Falls is marked with a faded red X painted on a tree stump next to the path. I don't have a picture of Big Falls, but if you can imagine, it's a small rock water fall with cliffs on both sides. There is a small, very cold, deep pool at the end. There is a rope set up that you can swing from into the water, but some of the crazier people climb the trees on the opposite side and jump the 30 feet down. I also took my little red-headed, too brave for her britches neice, Babe (Sierra), who talked a teen-ager into jumping off the cliff with her, since I was watching Dalton. She jumped, and jumped...once Derek went up with her, but looked down and walked back. I remember that feeling as a kid.
The really cool thing is that everywhere you stop along the way on the creek, theres a different landscape. The kid's love the critter-hunting value of the area more than anything else! Welcome to rural Pennsylvania!!