You go first!

The first picture is on Leetonia Road coming in from Parker Hollow. This tree has been leaning for months now it is a bit lower. I am not sure when it is going to fall, but I know it makes me a bit nervous to go under it.
The second picture is a bunch of mushrooms that came up after the rain they were so colorful, I just had to take a picture. Enjoy. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out and looking up.

Breakins along Painter Leetonia Rd.

Two cabins were broken into last week and another cabin had a metal glider and propane tank walk away. The cabins that were broken into nothing was taken. It is a mystery as to why someone would break in and then not steal anything. Keep your eyes open for suspicious activity. Report it at once to State Police or DCNR if you own a State Leased camp.
We got a heck of a storm Saturday for my birthday. Tornado warnings were issued for Cedar Run, Leetonia and Gaines around 7PM. We were visiting Penn's Cave and noticed the heavy storm driving back. We had no idea it was serious until we got to the intersection of 44 and 414. The road was blocked due to down tree and power lines. This caused us to detour through Black Forest to Slate Run Rd. and back to 414. It was foggy and still raining so the travel visibility was poor. We made it back around midnight and found a message on the machine about the tornado warning.
We didn't notice anything bad in Leetonia. It seemed trees were knocked down in different areas in small groups. Wilson Hill Rd and 414 had one of these and took power off the poles in about four places. I guess South of Galeton was bad, but no major damage or injuries.
I can tell you the worst place to be is driving through the forest in a wind storm. I am reminded of a fellow who got stuck on Cedar Mountain road one night when a tree fell in front of him and as he went to turn around one fell behind him. He got to spend then night until a friend of mine found him with a chain saw the next day.
I am always glad we don't have any big trees near the house. When the wind rips through the woods you can hear trees fall and it is an erie sound. All is safe in Leetonia. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Emerald Ash Borer

1.Map
2. larva
3. Bark Spilt
4. Crown die back
5. Emerald Ash Borer

















For those of you that have noticed a number of purple boxes hanging from trees in the area, this is one of the pests they are looking for,the Emerald Ash Borer.
The Ash borer was first located in Michigan in 2002 and was located last week in the town of Bath, NY.
The concern is that once the ash borer builds up its numbers it will spread more rapidly through the contiguous forests of ash in NY and Pa then it did in Michigan where the trees are broken up by farm fields.
The pest often tags along on firewood from campers bringing it from infested areas.
Locally, the bat factory in Galeton uses ash to produce its bats and would stand the most to loose from the loss of ash in the area. If you think you see one of these pest you should let the DNCR know and keep the pest in and closed container. Kill any you see.
Well today is my birthday and we are planning a trip down to the Penn Caves. It is supposed to be a hot day so the cool temps of the cave will be a welcome relief. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Snake days of Leetonia

When the weather gets hot the rattlesnakes are on the move crossing the road to get to the cooler streams. Between Lee and I we have seen 5 snakes in the last two weeks. Two yellow rattlers and 3 black rattlers.
There is a mini cub explosion going on in Leetonia. We have a mother with three cubs and one with four cubs. It is unusual to see either but both is unheard of since we have lived here.
You are probably wondering what this picture has to do with bears or snakes. Nothing! As you are going toward Leetonia on Leetonia Road two bridges past the Whippoorwill camp you will come to a long winding hill. This hill is a bit hard to get up in the winter when there is snow and ice not so much because of the grade but the turns and length can wear out a good run at it. Well I guess this hill has another name according to Bravo Button, 80, and lifelong resident of the area. They used to call it "Balk Hill", because the horses would stop and rest or balk as they pulled wagons up the hill. No amount of pleading would make them move until they were rested. I can't say I blame them. We are finishing up the second round of Census this week and hope to get back to a more normal summer schedule. Got a visit from Mark Amand and his wife over the weekend, always nice to see a reader and lover of Leetonia stop in person. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

4th of July videos Part 2

This video was taken during the Red Suspender days in Galeton. This is the fireman contest were they try to push the ball back over the other teams head. The over spray was welcome to the crowd since it was in the 90's that day.

4th of July videos Part 1

Here is a little firework action from the bridge in Slate Run. Sorry it took so long to post. I have had trouble with uploading my videos. I must do this in two posts since they only let you post one at a time.

July 4th weekend

Yesterday, while working down at Hooke's camp a bear came up and started eating some corn left on the ground. It was around 11 am so somewhat unexpected.
Hunter my nephew who had been trying to find a bear was thrilled and got his picture in front of two bears, a live one and a not so live one. You can guess which one was more exciting.
We went to the Galeton "Red Suspender Days", and watched the fire companies compete to spray the little red ball back and forth on a line. The team that puts the ball back over the heads of the other team and hits that teams pole wins.
It was fun on a hot day and many of the kids stood close enough to get caught in the over spray of water.
We are heading down to Slate Run to see their firework display tonight and the weather promises to be perfect. Hope all of you enjoy your 4th of
July celebrations as well. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.