Elk Rock, State Game Lands 51

Elk Rock is a peak along Chestnut Ridge, and happily, it's on public land and open for exploration.  Getting to Elk Rock is half the fun--following winding, narrow gravel lanes through hollows and up mountainsides.  There were a few views out onto neighboring mountains, but no views from the true summit, which stands at 2,277 feet.

I was on a peak-bagging mission.  How has Elk Rock never made it onto my radar before?  An unclaimed peak (at least in my peak-bagging club) on public land and only 62 miles from home?  Throughout the mountainous regions of Pennsylvania, you'll find palatial old homes standing behind iron gates--like this one here.  Upon closer inspection, this house looks a bit stark and monastic.

This is the type of road you'll travel if you drive from Pittsburgh to State Game Lands 51.  

Here's a new interest of mine: Wildflowers.  The best ones appear in late summer.  When I parked alongside the gravel lane to pick Joe Pye weed, and goldenrod, and Queen Anne's lace, it occurred to me that--in the world I come from--men aren't supposed to care for flowers...and I never did until just now.  In the world I come from, men are certainly not supposed to stop and pick flowers just because they're pretty.  The only thing that gives a man license to pick flowers is the intention to give them to a woman.  I wanted these for myself.  What if a Dodge Ram pickup truck full of tough guys sees me out here picking posies?  Will they stop to beat me up?  And then, I had a freeing thought: Who cares?  I'm 56 years old, and if I wanna collect wildflowers by the roadside, I'm gonna pick 'em without fear of what people think.  Besides, I've already done a lot of the traditional stuff to establish my non-toxic masculinity: marrying, having children, supporting my family, wasting my Saturdays mowing grass...

You have to park your car and follow the gated road steeply to the ridge, where you see the woods darkening to your right.  Something denser than trees is in there...rocks, big ones!  It's easy to climb the tallest ones to their tops, where all you'll see is more trees.

But the rock formations were enormous and beautiful and fun to explore in their chilly shade.

This rock was about 20 feet tall and larger at the top than at the bottom.

Another angle on the same boulder.

On the descent back to the car I came across a 4-foot long timber rattler.  He was sluggish and, like a lot of wildlife, maybe just a little less excited to make my acquaintance than I was to make his.  I also saw a really big buck on this trek, but by the time I unsheathed my camera, he'd silently disappeared.

After my sudden urge to pick flowers, I even came home and ordered a guide to wildflowers of the Mid-Atlantic.  How am I only just now discovering the joy of birds and flowers--so late in life?  The joy of trees was never wasted on me, not even as a child.  I've always loved trees and had favorite trees in various places in my life.

The bugs were savage up in the mountains.  The Minister's Black Veil came in handy... Actually, mine is more green than black, but there's no short story by Hawthorne called The Minister's Green Veil.