Our Cook's Forest Adventure

 

For the first time in 10 years, we finally had some time off together and I used it making reservations to Cooks Forest.  We had first heard about this ancient forest, the only one in the US that is protected from logging and mineral depletion from a Harvard Professor at Longwood Gardens in March.

 

Since we arrived at the Lodge several hours early, we used the time with a hike through the old forest and to the tower to view the entire Allegheny forest.  We were there at a good time (autumn) and the day was beatuiful and sunny.  Perfect for taking pictures.  We stayed at a lovely century old lodge within walking distance of the Clarion River.  It was a beautiful area.

 

I've always been told that to have a healthy forest it must be managed and logged.  So much for the infinite knowlege of mankind.  In this ancient and beautiful forest, there was a place for life as well as death.  In death, these majestic beautiful trees were covered with moss and lichens.  In the crevice of this old dead trunk, a fern finds shelter and grows nicely.  Other dead trees littered the forest floor providing a place for moss, insects and tiny creatures and sometimes almost hidden by the masses of forest ferns that shared the floor with moss.

 

The eco system of this incredible place was unchallenged and left to be tended the way it was meant to be tended.  Not by human hand but by the Hand of God, and left in the care of Mother Nature.