Walking at Valley Forge | Photos
by Elouise
Nearly two weeks ago our daughter Sherry and her husband Scott arrived for a long-anticipated visit. Yesterday we drove them to the airport for a flight back to the West Coast. Always it’s too short. Always I weep my eyes out, during and after (not without happy breaks). Always I feel softened and vulnerable. Always I love this break from routine. Always I’m loathe to say goodbye.
The day after they arrived we went for a late afternoon walk through part of Valley Forge National Park. Two things strike me when we visit the Park. One is the stillness and quiet, despite being just a stone’s throw from crowded highways and huge shopping centers. The other is nonstop birdsong, whether we’re walking by the meadow or through a wooded area.
Here are a few photos, minus the beautiful birdsong. The photo at the top shows us (minus D who’s behind the camera) just beginning our walk.
Looking out over the meadows, it’s tempting to think they were always there. Before the 1977-78 winter encampment during the Revolutionary War, almost all Valley Forge was forested. During the 6-month winter encampment, most trees were cut down for firewood and buildings.
Reclaiming the land as a national memorial involved delineating swaths of forest, creating managed meadows, and leaving space for a series of state highways, walking and biking paths, visitor facilities, monuments, memorials, reconstructed troop huts, and other renovated facilities such as George Washington’s headquarters during the encampment (a gift to the Park). The Park covers 3,500 acres (1,400 ha), gets over a million visitors per year, and is open year-round. Click here to see a visitor’s map of the grounds (not true to scale).
Here’s a little jack-in-the-pulpit beside a trail through the woods.
Now we’ll pause to ponder the look of young poison ivy in Pennsylvania. Isn’t it beautiful in the late afternoon sun? And don’t forget as you hike through the woods that so-called ‘dead’ poison ivy vines (often as thick as ropes) are also virulent.
These lovely little flowers are not poison ivy.
On our way back to the parking lot D got a photo of an elusive red-winged blackbird. In the last photo below, I’m almost to the parking lot. Notice the shaded picnic tables to the left, and facilities for visitors on the edge of the parking lot just ahead.
Thanks for stopping by!
Elouise♥
©Elouise Renich Fraser, 9 May 2018
Photos taken by DAFraser, 29 April 2018
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Just lovely, Elouise! It is always so good to see Sherry and Scott – in photos or in person, and every time I see the Park, I am moved, both by its beauty and its history. Thank you so much, as always, for the photos and the reflections. 🙂
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You’re welcome, Debbie. 😊 I’m always floored by the contrast between what we enjoy today at Valley Forge, and the harsh realities of what must have felt like endless winter and death in 1777.
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Thanks for the tour. This looks like it would be a lovely, calming walk.
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You’re welcome, and yes, it’s just what the doctor ordered! 😊
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What a lovely walk. That last photo tells quite a story with your white hat standing out.
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Hmmm…I wonder what the story is. 🙂 And yes, it was absolutely lovely.
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All kinds of stories; you almost at the end of the walk while others hang back – you standing out in a huge vacant scene. etc
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Okay. I’ll take the bait! I could give you at least three true plots…..off the top of my head.
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Beautiful photos! Valley Forge is always a favorite place of mine to go .. rich in history, beautiful landscape and really great views!
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Hi Jennifer! Thanks for your comment. I can’t wait to go back. It’s a favorite no admissions charge outing for us. Except in the winter!
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You are welcome.. yes I’m all about free things to do 😄
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That countryside looks so peaceful, and then there’s the Oval Office
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Hi, Brian! It’s good to hear from you. As for the photos, the countryside is much better for my health these days. Not that I don’t care about what’s happening in the Oval Office. Just back from voting in our Pennsylvania primary. We’ll see what happens next. They say there’s a chance the House will flip in the fall. This would dramatically change the equation, if it happens.
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The reserve captain doesn’t appeal to me very much; I don’t think I would trust Mr Pence as far as the front door, he looks an evil man to me,
I know we atheists don’t see things as good and evil but in his case I make an exception.
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Let’s just say I wouldn’t consider it a better deal, either. His record isn’t great on things that matter to me as a woman or as a follower of Jesus. And the fact that he supports Mr. Trump’s pronouncements gives me more than a little pause. I pray we find our way without descending into total chaos as a nation.
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I wish you lots of luck as I think you’re going to need it 😦
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