2014-06-08

【Aiden in English】

        The wilderness is truly a wild place. Unlike me, who is told or commanded what to do at home, nothing is contained, and things go as they please. Dad took me to experience it by going to Hickory Run State Park in PA on Sunday, a week before Father's Day.

        Hickory Run SP is 44 miles/71 km of pure nature, plus a few paths and unpaved roads. A tourist could get lost on the most challenging trail. The trail that seemed most appealing to me was the Shade of Death. Death by what? Probably bugs, snakes, and spiders because the forest of Hickory Run seemed like Bug Central. Even worse, its trial was rated as the "hardest." Now I did see why. The trail looked as crazy as a giant maze. No sign indicated "this way," and the path was almost unrecognizable. So much so that Dad and I had to jump from stone to stone across a stream; it was nerve-racking because the rocks were far apart. As soon as we got across, Dad and I were lost again. We trampled through bushes and branches, trying to find the trail. But to no avail. What we got was a bunch of mosquito bites and several scratches, which sucked. There also appeared to be signs of wildlife. Dad and I once spotted a water snake dining on fish. It was brown and glided smoothly across the water like an eel. Most importantly, we never got so lost that we couldn't find our way back. What a relief! It looked as if Dad and I were walking in circles, but somehow, we returned to the starting point of our fun journey.

        After a long hike, Dad and I decided to return to the parking lot. Never had I felt so good about sitting in a car.

【紅霞譯】

        曠郊野外真是一片蠻荒之地無邊無際，在這裡你想幹什麼就幹什麼，哪像我囚在家裡必須遵循清規戒律。“父親節”前一個星期天，爸爸帶我到賓夕法尼亞“山林”州山核桃樹州立公園遊玩，對之我感慨萬千。

        山核桃樹州立公園環抱44英哩／71公里自然景觀，沒有幾條像樣的泥巴土路，通常情況下遊客極易在蜿蜒崎嶇的羊腸小道上迷路走失，最令我感興趣的小道是“死亡陰影”，由什麼引起的死亡？也許昆蟲、毒蛇和蜘蛛，因為山核桃樹森林恰好陷入它們的重重包圍之中，難怪林區小道被認定最難行走，現在我終於明白緣從何起。小道宛若巨大迷宮叫人抓狂，既沒有路標，也缺乏突出特徵供人識別。溪水繞過岩石順流而下，因為岩石之間距離太遠，神經格外緊張，我和爸爸必須鼓足勇氣從一塊大石頭跳到另一塊上。好不容易跨過小溪，我們又迷失了方向，於是我們披荊斬棘，努力摸索前行。途中我們橫遭蚊蟲叮咬，渾身上下被樹枝劃得遍體鱗傷，有點慘不忍睹，此外沿途還出現野生動物跡象。我和爸爸一度發現一條正在吃魚的水蛇，棕色且表面光滑，像鰻魚似的在水裡扭來扭去，幸好彼此頭腦沒再犯暈，確認了所在方位，心裡踏實許多。不知怎麼搞得，之前倆人好像一直在兜圈子，繞過來繞過去，最後總算轉回這段快樂旅程開始的地方。

        經過漫長徒步旅行之後，我和爸爸來到停車場，以前從未像現在這樣，上車入座會令我感覺無比欣慰。

Hickory Run Boulder Field w/ Massive, Ancient Boulders Left from the Last Ice Age

(山核桃溪巨石場·冰河時代遺留下來的巨大古老巨石 11-22-2007)

Hickory Dam (山核桃壩 11-22-2007)

Hickory Run Falls (山核桃溪瀑布 11-22-2007)

Mud Run, a Wild Trout Stream 

(泥溪·野生鱒魚溪 11-22-2007)

Sand Spring Run Trail (沙泉步道 11-22-2007)

Hickory Tree (山核桃樹 11-22-2007)

Shade of Death Trail ((死亡陰影步道 11-22-2007)

Hard, Gray-Red, Medium-Grained Sandstone & Conglomeratic Sandstone from the Catskill Formation 

(堅硬的灰紅色中粒砂岩和貓溪石層礫砂岩 09-02-2010)

Boulder Feature, Remaining Relatively Unchanged for Thousands of Years Since Glacial Times

(自冰河時代以來，這一地貌數千年來基本保持不變 09-02-2010)

Hickory Run Lake (山核桃溪湖 09-02-2010)

Shade of Death Trail w/ Dark Forests of Evergreens & Seemingly Bottomless Swamps & Bogs

(死亡陰影之路·遍布常綠的幽暗森林和看似深不見底的沼澤 06-08-2014)

Plaque of the Shade of Death Trail

(死亡陰影步道·牌匾)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

USA·Pennsylvania(美國·賓夕法尼亞州)

USA(出遊美國)

5th Grade(小學五年級)