by Ed Lawrence, KTA Trail Care Chair
The parking area was empty when we pulled into the lot at the base of North Mountain, Luzerne County, for a Christmas morning hike on the Falls Trail loop at Ricketts Glen State Park. Normally the trail would be sheathed in ice and extremely dangerous at that time of the year, and the trailhead would have posted warnings declaring the trail off-limits except with proper ice-climbing equipment. However, since the temperatures were anything but normal this season, we hatched the plan to head out to Ricketts Glen at first light and usher in the holiday morning amid the towering old-growth hemlock and white pine trees guarding the first mile of the trail.
We hadn’t yet adjusted our hiking sticks when another car pulled in beside us and a young fellow emerged with much the same thought in mind, and so we exchanged sparkling greetings and set out. Because of the rain earlier in the week, the falls were full and the Cola-colored creek extremely boisterous. Much of the trail was, as usual, wet, but we saw no ice, so with the care always necessary when navigating the exposed sections of the Ricketts Glen Falls Loop, we had an excellent and beautiful walk. We met another hiker just past Midway Crevasse who had started at the top, and by the end of our hike had exchanged holiday greetings with a half dozen more spirited hikers. It was wonderful to know that we were all choosing to experience the day with peace in our hearts in a jewel of a state park.