First a big Thanks to Carlene and Jon Cox for reporting trail conditions on the trails that they are hiking at Watoga this week. Watoga trail report.
I returned to Bear Pen Trail today and removed smaller diameter trees on Bear Pen up to North Boundary and one on North Boundary. There is one tree on North Boundary that will require a ” lift of the kilt ” to get over. This and the one on Buck and Doe will be cut with a chainsaw ASAP.
I had plenty of time to consider why I feel so strongly about Watoga State Park on my recent drive back from Florida. Why am I so attached to this one geographic location on the entire globe? After all, I sold my log home on Summerville lake and moved right across the river from Watoga, and that after only one visit .
Musings of Former Natural Resources Officer
It is not like it was the first park I had ever seen. I was a DNR officer in Ohio for many years. I worked and lived in a great number of parks, including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. There is something truly special about this park. Although some reasons are emotional and I do not have the words to adequately express these, the more objective things include its history, the phenomenal natural beauty here, the wonderful and dedicated people who work in the park, and the friendly and simpatico people who visit the park over and over.
I hope that over the next several trail reports you will be so kind as to indulge me in expressing these things. I will make my case for why this park is so special and why we need to make every effort to love and protect this park. If we do this, the generations that follow us can enjoy this same affection and serenity we find when we cross the Greenbrier River and enter Watoga State Park.
Thanks and Happy Hiking,
Ken