Fog is the name of the game - resulting from blessed rain! 

In the masthead this week, Dan Mumford shared "after the storm" at the Canyon Vista. We had our own share of fog on the Yough River yesterday morning with some post-rain humidity combining with the cold, cold water being released from the lake behind the dam. My right achilles has been twitchy and my afternoon walk saw me put my foot in the river for a moving ice pack. 

Belated kudos and accolades to the Friends of Tuscarora & Locust Lake and park staff who found themselves in June with a very large toppled tree where a bridge on the Oak Loop Trail at Locust Lake should be. 

A group of sturdy all-age volunteers crafted a beautiful new bridge AND with the leftover wood replaced a teaching table at the site also destroyed by the same tree. Give a click to the Facebook post and see the transformation for yourself. What a great job!

Not done, but working on it. The Lackawanna State Park Trail Care Crew have their own big job (again) to contend with. They reported late yesterday that "Orchard is 3/4 of the way clear but the north end towards 438 there are lots of trees still down. ... Rowland’s Road is more damaged up top from the rain last night [and is] treacherous to pass. There’s also a powerline near the Rowland Preserve that is down. We are not sure if it’s a live line or not. PPL has been advised."

All by way of saying, exercise caution and some patience if you are headed to Lackawanna this weekend. 

My question last week zeroed in on content in the email and what park featured in some way this week houses its visitor center in a farmhouse. I was looking for Evansburg State Park where the historic Freidt farmhouse serves as the park's visitors center. 

However, Bill was the first of several to guess Laurel Hill State Park and, in truth, I have to give you that one. The Outpost gift shop and CCC exhibit center is housed in what certainly looks like an old farmhouse. So I'll concede that one!  (Have been in there countless times but I don't know its history. But since I'm planning a visit there tomorrow, I'll see what I can find out from Connie, Kim, and crew.)

This week I'd better be more straightforward, eh? It's a poll question! Sunday is National Ice Cream Day.

1. Cup?
2. Cone?

Enter each week to increase your chances of a fabulous prize at the end of the month when I'll draw one entry from all correct answers received during the month.

Kicking off August now on the Look Ahead calendar view.

Don't forget to bookmark both the PPFF events calendar and the DCNR Calendar of Events so you don't miss anything you'd be sorry to miss!

Blue boxes show photos and news locations and purple are events. 

Quote attributed to: horticulturalist Luther Burbank.

Photo: The incredible flying pika. Photo by Hilary Bralove, Friends of Rocky Mountain National Park. 

[Check out the mountain call of the pika, courtesy of Mount Rainier National Park.] "Eeep," to you too, friend.