It was a perfect crisp morning for a hike today. Clear blue sky, slight breeze, and temperature of about 25 degrees (F).
So we set out of Blue Bell Park on the orange trail, with a goal to go one bridge further than our last walk and see what we might find.
We were not disappointed, and enjoyed the Wissahickon Creek gorge rock formations and forests. Just amazing how large trees can grow on almost bare rock, at sharp angles, and yet hold up to the forces of gravity.
We also came across wonderful historical sights as we learn about the region.
First we came upon Glen Fern:
A mile or so up the orange trail, we then came upon the Valley Green Inn, where we stopped for water and sunshine on our face. We were pleased to sit and watch the creek flow by and see equestrians, hikers, cyclists, joggers, and old dog loving fools like us out for adventure:
As we wandered back on the other side of the creek on the wider and smoother Forbidden Drive towards Kitchens Lane Bridge, we stopped to use the “restroom”.
It is a lovely old stone building more like a pavilion than a restroom, but the door does not shut. That’s not really a problem because the building is located at an elbow in the trail, making visibility into the restroom from Forbidden Drive difficult if not impossible (and there were very few people on the trail anyway.)
But as I was taking a leak, I noticed that the two dogs – off leash – were unusually excited and kept wandering out of the room and I had to keep calling them back. As I finished and was buttoning up, I noticed this woman with a direct line of sight. To gain that line of sight, she had to deviate a good 30 feet off to the very edge of Forbidden Drive and was craning her neck to peer in at me.
As I’m pulling up my pants and buttoning up – it was 25 degrees out and I had multiple layers on and it was taking longer than usual – I see this woman maybe 60 feet outside the door, walking at a sharp angle off the trail and straining her neck looking directly at me.
I thought she was a weird peeping Tom. She stared directly at me for a good 20 seconds as I was buttoning up my pants, so I yelled, “just keep moving”. At which point she exploded screaming with venom: “get you dogs on a leash!!; get your dogs on a leash!!” as if she were being attacked.
The dogs had not come within 50 feet of her!
So I yelled back: “you damn pervert! Stop peeping at men with their pants down! I’ll call the cops!”
What a classical Karen. She almost ruined an otherwise perfect morning hike.