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You are here: Home / Family / A Mouse Eating a Potato Chip and Other Photos from Hiking at Ricketts Glen
A deer mouse eating a potato chip

A Mouse Eating a Potato Chip and Other Photos from Hiking at Ricketts Glen

October 11, 2021 by Susan Burkholder 4 Comments

Sometimes you take a long hike to see one waterfall, but at Ricketts Glen, you can take one hike and see eighteen waterfalls in one afternoon. Last Saturday, several of my siblings and I took nine of my oldest nieces and nephews hiking at the state park located about two-and-half hours north of here. We hiked 3.2 miles (the main Falls trail at Ricketts Glen). Several of us enjoy photography and took our time taking photos. Here are some of my shots.

Leaves on the ground
When we got out of the van, one of the first things I noticed was all the leaves on the ground, much more than at home.
Family at Ricketts Glen
The best group photo I got. Two of us aren’t on, since we are the ones taking the photos.
Going down. First you hike down the gorge, with ten waterfalls on the way down.
Leaves on the ground
The trees roots and leaves together remind me of a stained glass window.
Cousins on the trail
Cousins, my nephews Nathan and Beriah.

After about a mile downhill, you reach a spot where two creeks meet and the trail crosses a bridge, and then we started hiking up the other side.

Moss was everywhere.
Waterfall
Cordell standing behind a waterfall on the way back up.
Waterfall
My favorite waterfall photo of the day.
A deer mouse eating a potato chip
Potato chip mouse!

While waiting on some of the others, I sat on a bench near a fork in the trail. I noticed some other hikers watching this adorable little deer mouse. He seemed super tame, and looked much cuter than mice I’ve seen inside the house. One of the other hikers dropped a potato chip for him.

And after feeding this mouse a potato chip, the same guy picked him up!

But that wasn’t the only animal life we got to observe up close. On our way back on the Highland trail, we noticed this tree with unusual white fuzz…

Tree with woolly aphids
The tree with fuzz… and the fuzz was moving…
Up close we could see the fuzz was alive.

Cordell guessed (correctly) that the white fuzz was actually some kind of aphids. They are called woolly aphids. They were waving back and forth and looked as if they could float away in the slightest breeze.

Mushrooms
There were lots of cool mushrooms and toadstools.
Trees in the forest
Forest ceiling

After the hike, we headed to my sister’s house to join the rest of the clan for a hot dog roast.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these photos! Happy Fall!

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Filed Under: Family, Nature, Travel Tagged With: hiking

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Comments

  1. Ruth Sellers says

    October 12, 2021 at 2:36 am

    Great photos as always. Looks like a perfect day for the hike in such a beautiful location. I always enjoy reading your posts, Susan. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Susan Burkholder says

      October 12, 2021 at 5:27 pm

      You’re welcome, Ruth! It was an overcast day, which is nice for photography.

      Reply
  2. Andrew says

    October 17, 2021 at 4:33 pm

    Great photos! The waterfall one is beautiful, and my favorite one might be the leaves that look like stained glass.

    Reply
    • Susan Burkholder says

      October 24, 2021 at 10:09 pm

      Thanks, Andrew! I really enjoyed taking photos that day.

      Reply

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