A couple of days ago I took a walk on the “new” side of the Pennypack Trail, going from the parking lot on Welsh Road north. My goal was to walk 5 miles (out 2.5 miles and return trip) as part of meeting a ten-mile walk goal. I used to do this route in one day but I haven’t walked so far in one go for a couple of years, and so I planned it for two days, this being the first half.
Anyway, I headed out on a hot afternoon. It was a nice walk all right, and the trail was pleasantly busy with people always in sight, but never close enough to intrude. Here are two events from the walk.
Beaver pond
On the way out, I walked up the rail trail, but on the way back I crossed a bridge over the Pennypack Creek to take me to the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust lands on the other side. There is another trail there that parallels the creek; it’s much rougher and more secluded, making a nice change. And…I wanted to see how things looked at the beaver pond.
I turned off the main trail and headed up this one:
The pond is right there on the corner.
The pond was created by a family of beavers who were here a few years ago; there was a spring there but it was the beavers who set up the circumstances to fill up this swampy area and turn it into what you see now. Last fall, the hurricane that caused so much damage in our area severely affected the pond environs and washed out the trail. Things are now repaired and access to the pond restored for trail-goers.
I am not sure if there are any beavers still living here at the moment. They had moved on before the storm. Maybe we’ll get a new family?
I had stopped by here some months ago. Here is the same view slightly skewed to the right (you can see the edge of the sign in the left side of the picture). It’s quite a change from March!. Take a look:
After resting for a bit, I headed back down the trail and crossed back the bridge back to the rail trail.
Bryn Athyn Post Office
This post office is in the former Bryn Athyn train station on the rail trail, from when it was an active line. As I was walking by on the outbound trip, I saw this sign at the former platform area facing the trail:
I thought this was really nice of them to do. On my way back I stopped in and said thank you to the two women working there. Because I felt they needed to know it was appreciated. I went on my way thinking that yes, no matter what a mess the world might be in, there are still people doing good things everywhere we go. It cheered me up.
Well, that is the story of that little journey. It was nice to be out in the good weather and to revisit familiar places that I enjoy.
Sometimes You Get So Confused 
The contrast in the two pics of the beaver pond is quite stark. Nature is wonderful.
March is the very end of winter here and everything is swept clean (not to mention the effects of the storm in the previous fall that this whole area was underwater). I am so happy to see it green and lush now and looking healthy.
What a difference that few months have made to the landscape! Nature is definitely doing a better job of recovering from the tornado than the constructed world is. And you are so right about the importance of appreciating those small acts of kindness and thoughtfulness.
Nice I had a preview of this!
The world is so green right now. (K)
We have had so much rain and then the right amount of sunshine that everything is really growing beautifully. It feels like a nice summer.
Yes, I hope it continues.
How thoughtful to provide water!
Your walk looked full of lovely scenery!
This post office is tiny, and the area it serves, the people don’t have mailboxes so they come to the post office (this is very unusual around here). So it’s a social hub. The water is a new thing but fits in with how they do things (they also decorate the building in red white and blue lights at night).