May 10th I attended a Women in the Wild Program at Black Moshannon State Park.
I camped at the park with Ranger J and her family in their campulance. Not the best photo but I really loved their batwing awning.
There was a great selection of classes offered it was hard to choose 4.
My first class was a bird identification class which was well attended but not by birds. The instructor did give good information about beginner birding. And the lake in the morning was beautiful.
I thought the second class was going to be mushroom 🍄 foraging but it was even better…mushroom gardening.
We were given a giant green log to drill 20 holes into.
Then we inserted little pieces of dowel rods that were impregnated with Blue Oyster mushroom spores.
Hopefully by next spring I will have mushrooms.
I took a wildlife safety class where we learned what to do when confronting wild animals-bear, deer, snakes, raccoons and porcupine. Basically the theme is stop and walk slowly backwards while facing them. If attacked, fight them and DO NOT play dead(that’s for Grizzlies).
My last class was primative fire making. For the first time ever I was able to produce a hot coal with the bow saw friction method! Not sure I could ever do it again but it was very satisfying.
After classes we formed a girl ebike gang we call the Hellbenders and went for a 12 mile ride around a bison farm.
I am fortunate to have such kind friends who love to play outside too.