by Jesse Bussard

This weekend while I’ve been home visiting family in Pennsylvania I’ve been trying to get back to my roots a little. On Saturday afternoon my best friend since 6th grade, Melissa Coleman, and I went exploring. I had been thinking a lot about a particular stone marker that stands in Warriors Path State Park in Saxton, PA. This particular stone marker is inscribed with the names of my grandparents, Samuel E. Bussard and Mary M. Bussard, as they donated some of the land that was needed to form the park. The 349-acre Warriors Path State Park lies very near the famous path used by the Iroquois in raids and wars with the Cherokees and other American Indians in southern Pennsylvania. Various tracts of land for the park were donated beginning in 1959, with my grandparents being among the donors. The park was dedicated in the summer of 1965.

The second stop on our little adventure was Trough Creek State Park to see the famous Balanced Rock. Now if you’re not from central Pennsylvania you’ll likely never hear of this geological anomaly. As a kid though growing up in Trough Creek Valley a trip to Balanced Rock was a right of passage and one that never got old. To this day I still enjoy hiking up the trail to see the Rock in all her glory. I’m sure one of these days after erosion of wind and rain has taken it’s toll the Rock will plummet into the Great Trough Creek but until that day, I’ll still take every chance I can get to hike up the Rhododendron Trail to see it. Along the way you cross a suspension bridge and pass by Rainbow Falls.  All in all it was a good way to spend a cool Saturday afternoon!