The Uneventful Things

It's typically the uneventful things that make a life full and happy. Or at least that's what I tell myself in the absence of anything more interesting.

As one who has newly discovered the wonders of hiking the state game lands, I've taken to planning my excursions mostly in the counties to the south: Washington, Greene, Fayette. I usually go for Washington County. It's the closest, and it's a place where history looms in every hollow and around each bend. It's a mysterious place of beautiful hills and valleys, old, old houses, almost-quaint-but-slightly-seedy villages, cemeteries with weathered brown headstones.


This past Sunday's trek took me to State Game Lands #245, just south of Claysville on PA231. The excursion was low key. The gamelands there are pleasant enough. There's a grassy green road that runs up a valley wall. My old digital has finally given up the ghost, so these are cheapo cell phone shots. Not much to see. At the top of the valley, there's a lot of industrial noise from some Consol Energy site located within the gamelands, but down near the valley floor, silence and solitude could be found. Also, note to future self: there's a free shooting range at SGL 245, so if I ever want to practice with the .22, this is the place. Also, I liked the series of fields joined by grassy roadlets. There was a murky pond, and come August, the place will be overrun with apples and elderberries.

The best thing about this excursion is that on the route home I took PA231 north through the intriguing village of Claysville (might be worth an hour's visit someday). I was avoiding I-70 because of outrageous construction delays, and along the minor roadway, I discovered the fabled SGL 232: the wonderland in the valley of Buffalo Creek. With all the creeks and streams, the place looks spectacular.