After Dave and my visit to the Grand Canyon of Eastern US near Castile, NY, we next visited Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon near Wellsboro, PA, camping at Leonard Harrison State Park. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit cold and damp, but we did manage to hike the rim on both sides of the canyon. There were rattlesnake warnings posted, but I convinced myself it was too cold and they were hunkered down in their dens. The area also had a 62-mile rails to trail bike route, but we both decided it was too cool. Can you say wimps? It was that damp cold. Yep, we were wimpy.
Continuing south, we stopped at Shawnee State Park, not too far from Penn State University. The Nittany Lions football stadium was an imposing structure right near the highway as we drove by. We only stayed one night but did get a short hike in with a great view of a nearby lake. Dave started a campfire to keep us warm and we enjoyed yummy s’mores
Our final stop this week was at a KOA Campground near Harrisonburg, PA, just outside of Shenandoah National Park. Murphy loves our campsite with lots of trees and leaves to roll in and the campground has a dog park. He’s so excited!
The remnants of Hurricane Ian soaked the area for the first two days. Luckily, we were staying for a week with time to explore the park once the rain cleared During the rain, we drove into the park so I could stamp my National Park Passport book. The Visitor’s Center had a large chronological display of the history of the park. There was much politically wrangling for the then Skyland Resort and surrounding area to be recognized as a National Park. Building the Skyline Drive, a 105-mile road on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was key to getting the designation. President Franklin Roosevelt had established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) after the depression ended and over 10,000 CCC men were used to build much of the park we see today. The Shenandoah National Park officially opened on July 3, 1936. Next week, we’ll share our adventures as we explore the park and hopefully we can see a black bear in the distance.
“I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out,
I found, was really going in.”
– John Muir
Thanks so much for following along on our 2022 RV Travels.
Sending strength to those affected by Hurricane Ian, looking forward to seeing the Sun again Dave, and so what if it’s raining Murphy
Niiice!
So, with so many canyons, should some of them be “almost grand –“, “second-most grand –“, “runner-up grand –“, I’m confused 😉 . I was wondering how cool it would be to kayak down thru the canyon.
I love the shot of Mr. Murphy reading Daves texts – upside down?
Don’t hurry south, – here we have to crank down the air conditioner and start a fire to roast the marsh mellows;-)
Enjoy Shenandoa, my dad was one of those CCC kids to build that place.
Great bear pic! So cool you got to see one. Hope Murphy didn’t want to charge the bear.