I first visited Ricketts Glen State Park over a decade ago, although I can’t recall the exact year. Pictures exist somewhere. Maybe. I lost a couple of years’ worth of digital photos at some point when my hard drive had a meltdown, and these pictures might be among them. My first visit was in August of either 2009 or 2010, and it was a rainy weekday, that much I do remember clearly. I went with Justin and Flint and had never witnessed anywhere quite like it before. I’ve gone back several time since then, although it’s been several years since the last trip up there.
After hiking the Falls Trail at least 5 times, I’ve seen the falls flowing with vigor and also much more calmly. They’re always beautiful and leave an impression. I don’t think it’s possible to walk past 21 named waterfalls in a span of a couple of hours and not be somewhat dazzled. In addition to the falls, there’s a nice walk through the woods to get to the descent to Waters Meet and then back up to the parking lot. There are massive rocks at the top of the trail and also wildflowers with a plethora of butterflies if you choose to walk around the cabins. One visit is all I needed to decide that, of all the places I’ve visited and hiked in Pennsylvania, this one is special and one of my favorites. Honestly, it’s one of my favorites of anywhere I’ve traveled.
There are probably a few reasons it took us almost 4 years to get back there since our last visit. In 2018, Magic was too young for such a strenuous hike; it would not have done her immature joints any favors. In 2019, we were maybe intimidated by the thought of bringing both Rook and Magic there together- it’s steep, sometimes narrow and often wet and slippery. It also gets fairly busy on weekends, sometimes with lots of other dogs on the trail. There could be a decent chance of injury to someone, whether one of us or someone else on the trail. 2020, obviously, was 2020; we weren’t about to drive 2.5 – 3 hours to potentially run into all of the not-really-outdoorsy folks that briefly took up hiking. When we last went in 2017, Flint also accompanied us. It was his last (and, to date, Rookie’s only) camping trip, so there was also some sadness in going back. (It took us a while just to get back to our much more local Ridley Creek State Park after losing Flinty because being there felt so bittersweet.)
We finally returned because it was my birthday last week, and that’s where I decided I wanted to spend it. Normally, I’m not among those that take off of work for their birthday, but I had some extra time this year. It seemed like a good reason to use some PTO and just not be at work for a day. Since the drive takes us past Allentown, we could also stop at Cali Burrito for lunch on the way home.
Thankfully, we didn’t get rained on, and midweek, the park was pretty quiet. We only saw two other dogs on the trail and were able to easily pass each of them. Both Rook and Magic behaved remarkably well for themselves. Rook, of course, has done the Falls Trail a couple of times before this week, so he was pretty happy to be out there, with his tail wagging and curled over his back most of the day. Magic saw a waterfall once, a couple of years ago in the Catskills, but she didn’t get as close to that one as the trail gets to many of Ricketts Glen’s falls. She seemed a little disconcerted by the noise from the rushing water initially. Both of them slept very soundly that evening. As for us humans, we ended the day with the cheesecake Justin had made for me the night before as our dinner. Overall, I’d say it was a wonderful day. Much better than a typical Wednesday at work.
“There’s no better place to find yourself than sitting by a waterfall and listening to its music.” ~ Roland R. Kemler
