All of these photos are copyrighted © and may not be used without permission.

Yes, those are people standing on the bridge. Click on the small picture to display a larger one. Then look closely. You can just make out the people. That's because this railroad bridge, originally constructed in 1882, is 2,053 feet long and towers 301 feet above the valley floor making it the second highest railroad viaduct in the United States and the fourth highest in the world. The Kinzua Bridge, or more properly called the Kinzua Viaduct, is located in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania, south of Bradford. The bridge has pedestrian walkways on both sides of the railroad track which allows visitors to walk out on the span and view the valley below. Janet and I ventured out on the bridge. The walkway consists of two by six inch wooden planks nailed in place between occasional railroad ties that extend past the steel structure of the bridge. This causes the walkway to be cantilevered beyond the steel structure. When walking on it, this appears to be unsafe, especially when viewing the valley floor through the slots between the two by six planks. Naturally there is a handrail and fence to keep someone from falling off the bridge, although you can still lean over the fence to get a nice view of the bridge's supporting structure.

Looking Straight Down - Kinzua Bridge State Park, Pennsylvania

If you look at the larger version of this picture, in the upper left corner you can see the walking bridge that crosses the creek. There is a trail that will lead you down into the valley and I assume to this walking bridge. Janet and I decided to stay on top and save the trail for our next trip. This bridge is still in use by a steam powered train that stops at the bridge at noon on its 97 mile round trip from Marienville.

Camera: Chinon CM-3 35mm SLR
Lens: Tokina 24mm f/2.8
Film: Fuji Super G+ 400
Photographer: Jim
Story: Jim

On this particular day we went to Boiling Springs Lake to feed the many ducks and geese that are permanent residents of this small lake. After we ran out of food we were watching the waterfowl quickly disperse when this bird seemed to appear out of nowhere. When we first saw it, it looked like it was diving directly toward the water in some kind of suicide maneuver. It hit the water with a loud splash and then regained its senses and took to flight once again. We were highly amused by this activity, thinking that this bird must have had a little too much to drink at the Boiling Springs Tavern just across the road. We continued to watch the bird soar and occasionally hover over the lake. As we watched, I recalled a documentary that I had seen several years ago about a bird called an osprey that dives under the water to catch fish. I had never seen a live osprey before, but reasoned that by its behavior, this bird was a good imitation of the one that I had seen in the documentary. I thought how great it would be to see this animal actually dive beneath the surface of the water and emerge with a fish. Well, a few moments later, while I was still daydreaming, we were given a real life demonstration of the osprey's fishing technique. Naturally I didn't have the camera ready, and I brought the camera to take pictures of ducks and geese that were only a few feet away, not a bird of prey crashing into the water over fifty feet away. I completely missed the bird entering the water, but managed to gain my senses fast enough to record it emerging from the lake with a nice rainbow trout.

Osprey - Just a another day of trout fishing

Boiling Springs is a small town in south central Pennsylvania. It is located approximately fifteen miles southwest of Pennsylvania's capitol, Harrisburg.

Laurel Lake - Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Pennsylvania

Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to take a drive through the nearby mountains to take in the fall colors. We traveled to Mount Holly Springs just southwest of Boiling Springs and proceeded into the mountains on Ridge Road. Ridge Road is a dirt road that runs along the top of the mountains in the Michaux State Forest from just south of Mount Holly Springs to just east of Chambersburg. In the lower section it parallels the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. We decided not to travel the entire length of the road since all the trees were starting to look the same. We turned off onto Cold Springs Road and proceeded to Pine Grove Furnace State Park. The main attraction in the park, Laurel Lake, is a popular recreational spot in the summertime. There are picnic grounds and the lake has a man-made sand beach and a small area roped off for swimming. Small boats are allowed on the lake provided they are not powered by a gasoline engine. None of the normal recreational activities were taking place when we arrived since summer was well over.

Camera: Zenit 12XP 35mm SLR
Lens: Mamyia-Sekor 50mm f/2
Film: Kodak Gold 400
Photographer: Jim
Story: Jim

This was our first time visiting Ricketts Glen State Park. I had read about the park and the main attraction, Ganoga Falls a few weeks prior to our visit. However, I did not know exactly what to expect and in fact found the reality of the park to be completely different from my expectations. The park is located in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania about twenty miles northwest of Wilkes-Barre. There are a total of 22 named waterfalls in the park. We chose to enter the park using the entrance off Route 487. There is another entrance from Route 118 which also has a trail to the Registered National Natural Landmark area called the Glens Natural Area. After driving a short distance down a dirt road and past a campground area, we reached the parking area for the trail that leads to the waterfalls. As we walked toward the entrance to the trail I noticed that everyone we saw coming from the trail was wearing hiking boots. This was the first sign that things were not as I had expected. The second sign was in fact.....a sign. The sign at the entrance to the trail warned about steep and slippery terrain and stressed the importance of wearing proper footgear. We naturally were wearing sneakers. Nevertheless, we decided to continue. After a short distance the trail split. We decided to take the right trail which goes by ninety four foot high Ganoga Falls.

Another View of Ganoga Falls

We found most of the trail to be easily walkable. However, some sections were absolutely terrifying. In the steep sections there are stairs made out of rock, but there are no ropes or fences to keep someone from taking a plunge to the bottom of the gorge. Luckily we managed to make our way to the bottom of Ganoga Falls. We had reached the park late in the afternoon and since we were unsure how long it would take us to traverse the loop around the Glens Natural Area, we decided to return the way we came. We were able to make it back to the car without incident and decided to visit one of the park's lakes called Lake Jean.

Brave deer of Ricketts Glen

As we reached the park office which is located at the intersection of the road to the falls and the road that goes from the entrance of the park to Lake Jean, we noticed a couple of deer dining along the roadside. They were only about fifteen feet off the road so we stopped and took a few pictures before proceeding on to Lake Jean. On our way back from the lake we discovered that the deer were still there and one of the deer was only about two feet off the road. We pulled up right next to it and Janet rolled down her window thinking that as soon as the deer realized there was a human in the car it would scamper off into the woods. Surprisingly, the deer decided to walk up to the open window and ask for handouts. At one point it looked like it was examining the window to see if it could jump in and go for a ride. Since it would have been difficult to explain to our neighbors how we suddenly had a deer for a pet, we decided that it would be prudent to roll up the window and begin our trip home.

Camera: Zenit 12XP 35mm SLR
Lens: Mamyia-Sekor 50mm f/2
Film: Ganoga Falls-Fuji Super G 400, Another View of Ganoga Falls-Kodak Gold 400, Deer-Fuji Super G 400
Photographer: Jim
Story: Jim

We were out aimlessly driving around one weekend, something we seem to do a lot, when I suddenly remembered having read in the local newspaper that Stony Creek Valley would be opened. This area just north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capitol, is normally closed to motorized vehicles. The state of Pennsylvania owns this land and classifies it as State Games Lands 211. On weekends, in the middle of October, motor vehicles are allowed into this area so people can view the fall colors. The packed dirt road, which is an old railroad bed, runs for approximately 24 miles through the valley. In the 1800's there were several small coal mining communities along the railroad. Some remnants of these old communities can still be seen. Normally this area, besides being used for hunting, is open for hiking, bicycling, and riding horses. I have always wanted to ride my mountain bike through this area, but I didn't want to try it without knowing what the terrain was like. Now I know that the railroad bed is fairly smooth and flat, which means that hopefully I can ride the entire distance without getting a sore rear.

Camera: Zenit 12XP 35mm SLR
Lens: Mamyia-Sekor 50mm f/2
Film: Kodak Gold 400
Photographer: Jim
Story: Jim

We were on our way to the Bloomsburg Fair and decided to make a stop at Shikellamy State Park. There are actually two parts to the park. We had visited the part that is on an island in the Susquehanna River several times before. This was my first time in the part that overlooks the river. From the overlook, you can see where the west branch of the Susquehanna River flows into the main branch. I guess when the the settlers reached this point they had not yet thought of the idea of naming three different rivers as they did in Pittsburgh. Shikellamy State Park is located along U.S. Route 11 just north of Shamokin Dam and on the west side of the river from Sunbury. Bloomsburg is about twenty miles north on Route 11. When entering Bloomsburg, a sign prominently announces that Bloomsburg is the only town in Pennsylvania. All of the other communities in the state that most people would consider towns are classified as boroughs. The Fair turned out to be so packed with people that we were barely able to move.

Sunset - Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

After the Fair, we decided to take the long way home. We took Route 487 south to Shamokin, not to be confused with Shamokin Dam. We then got on Route 61 and followed it through various coal mining communities until we reached Interstate 81. Proceeding south on I-81 we reached a scenic overlook in Schuykill County just in time for an interesting sunset. Not wanting to lug an SLR camera around the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, we decided to bring the Canon point and shoot with us. I'm so used to working with a fully manual SLR, it never occurred to me that I could actually turn the flash off on the Canon. Had I done so, we might have gotten a sunset picture without the bright green vegetation.

Camera: Canon Sure Shot Zoom Max 35mm P&S
Lens: Canon 38-76mm f/3.8-7.3
Film: Kodak Gold 200
Photographer: Jim
Story: Jim

We had just purchased a new SLR camera and I was anxious to give it a try. Actually it's a rather old camera, but nicer than the other SLR's that we have that actually still work. Considering all the covered bridges in Pennsylvania, it wasn't hard to pull out a map and find one close by. This bridge is in Perry County near Landisburg. Like most covered bridges, it is only a single lane wide, which we found out rather abruptly when we entered the bridge and found it already occupied by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. After slamming on the brakes, backing up to let the other vehicle past, and then proceeding across the bridge, someone else had the same experience as they suddenly found us occupying the bridge. The cutout sections in the side of the bridge are supposed to prevent these surprises, but we found them to be very ineffective.

Camera: Yashica TL Electro X 35mm SLR
Lens: Quantaray 28mm f/2.8
Film: Kodak Royal Gold 400
Photographer: Jim
Story: Jim