Some seasonal good reads from our friends at DCNR - first a Forest Fridays from a week or two ago. There is something about spring flowering trees that does give one hope! The mid-state was lovely this weekend with weeping cherries in bloom; the redbud along I-68 through Maryland was also gorgeous. 

A couple of weeks ago we showed you the Friends of Michaux's nifty new "all-terrain dump truck" for moving trail building materials and equipment to hard to reach areas of the Forest. I suspect it will get its first taste of "Michaux dirt" (Marci says "soil") on the 26th when the season's first volunteer day on the Hearth Tender Trail happens. Find out more on the Friends' Book of Faces. 

That little mini-dump has to have a place to live and the Friends announced this week that "it's here" - a new shed for tool and materials storage. Yep, it's trail time!

Speaking of trails, the Friends of Trough Creek & Warriors Path kick off their first-ever Trail Challenge tomorrow at Trough Creek. This seven-month, seven-trail event invites you to take a walk (alternating between Trough Creek and Warriors Path) on either a Saturday afternoon or a Thursday evening. Do it all and you'll earn a tee-shirt (and bragging rights). Find out more on the Book of Faces. You can sign up on DCNR's calendar of events and take your check along to your first walk.

April is SUCH a busy month - it seems like this is when everything starts to crank into high gear. Earth Day means the season for volunteering revs up. The Happy Little Trees initiative invites us all to do our 5k walk/run/bike beginning April 19. J.T. Rothrock Memorial Week kicks off the same day. (Those two make a natural partnership - 5k in a state forest!)

Now the PA House of Representatives has designated April 21 through 28 as International Dark Sky Week in a nod to the wonderfulness that is Cherry Springs State Park and its world-famous dark skies and the astronomy clubs and volunteers who work to preserve places like it. 

The idea here is not JUST to recognize the beauty of the place but to understand how the darkness of the night contributes to the health of the whole ecosystem. So while you may not have the chance to visit Cherry Springs during Dark Sky Week you might take the opportunity to look up some night in awe and wonder. And remember the lighting we choose has an impact on the skies around us. 

Jiang Ming's People's Choice winner in the Nature's Colors category from 2022 might offer inspiration.