Fever Dream: Autumn Colors at Black Moshannon

In which we survive an attack by the R.O.U.S. (Rodent of Unusual Size), find our way out of the Moshannon Forest, and go see amazing foliage colors at nearby Black Moshannon State Park.

The scene: It was about 1 a.m., I was backpacking in the backwoods with my husband, I'd settled into my tent for the night with all of my stuffed animals by my side, the moon was coming and going behind the clouds, and we were in the midst of a critter attack! EEK!!!

"Look out!" shouted Tiny Tiger, "It's a R.O.U.S.!"

"Quite frankly, I don't think they exist," replied the New Moose, sagely.

"Don't forget - you've got your Boker picnic set, with a sharp knife!" advised Alex the Alligator; "If that knife can hold off a whole pack of coyotes, it can sure handle one measly little R.O.U.S.!!!"

"Inconceivable!" said Tiny Tiger, shaking his head so hard his stripes nearly came off!

"You keep using that word," said Lil RBG; "I do not think it means what you think it means!" (*See note below.)

The wild creature illuminated by my flashlight - that had apparently been tap dancing either inside or on top of my backpack, right outside my tent - held steady for just another second, long enough for us to note that it was dark and had a long fuzzy tail, and then it disappeared!

Now, I have been backpacking for 36 years and I have seen a thing or two. I have been walked on by spiders, I've levitated in my sleeping bag when run over by a mouse, and I've had my best L.L. Bean boots chewed to smithereens by a porcupine, as I slept outdoors sans tent in Quehanna, with those boots by my head. But this was the very first time EVER I've had my backpack invaded by a rodent!

I had a few choices. In my head was dancing around the question of whether the critter was well and truly GONE, or whether it was merely lurking inside my backpack, waiting to leap out at me at the most inopportune moment.

Should I leave my tent to investigate further? Should I bring my backpack inside the tent? In the end, I did the easiest thing possible: as soon as the animal truffling around noises stopped, I simply rolled over and went back to sleep!

In the morning, as soon as it was daylight, I got out of my tent and investigated my backpack. There is a main top pocket that had just a few items of clothes in it. Clear and fine. There is a bottom pocket that I keep my mini-cooler in, and I'd left it open overnight. Inside the bottom pocket was the cooler and a plastic bag, which had been chewed up handily by the creature! Tiny pieces of plastic bag littered the bottom pocket.

Of course, I didn't have any pictures of the animal (dang it!), but I had the impression of some kind of rodent that was squirrel-like, but dark, with a longish tail that was furred. When I told my husband about the attack, he said squirrels don't come out at night! Only flying squirrels do, and I knew from past experience that this one was NOT a flying squirrel. Oh no, this would not be my first flying squirrel rodeo!

We did further investigation when we got home, and it seems most likely that the critter was a woodrat, possibly an Allegheny woodrat. Tiny Tiger looked it up on the Internet and discovered the following information online:

"They emerge at dusk to forage for food, which includes a variety of leaves, fruit, nuts, seeds, fungi and twigs. Radio-telemetry studies indicate that woodrats may change den locations during summer, but after mid-autumn they retain one den for winter. Woodrats do not hibernate.

Beginning in mid-summer, they store food for winter by stuffing leaves and other materials into rock crevices and protected ledges. They also collect non-food items such as wasp nests, bones, molted snakeskins, candy wrappers, and shotgun shells." And plastic bags, let me add!

After all of the overnight excitement, a couple of us were still a little bit tired, but we managed to get up, get out of the tent, pack up our gear, and be ready to leave the campsite by early afternoon. We wanted to hike out, go visit the nearby state park, and then head home.

Do you want to guess whether we found our Walmart bag tied to a tree, to navigate out? Well, the answer to that is an unfortunate NO. We're not sure whether we went too high up the hill or too low down it, but we missed our entry point and ended up bushwhacking out of Moshannon State Forest. Eventually, we found what felt like an old trail we used to use, so it wasn't bad, maybe added five minutes to our usual return trip. No harm, no foul!

And then we were back at the car and putting our gear in, and then, oh my gosh, it's almost like FLOATING, that moment when you take the gear off and you are done serving as your own pack horse. Heaven!

The drive along Rattlesnake Pike, route 504, was just astounding. The fall foliage colors are peaking in many spots up top. (To see colors, go UP! Either north, or to a higher elevation.) It was just a lovely drive, and we hooted and hollered like kids at the colors we saw.

And then the foliage at the park . . . well, you can see by the picture above that parts of the park are just about at peak. I walked around with my camera, snapping pictures every which way, like a girl in some kind of trance. Oh my, it just doesn't get any better than this!!!

My husband and I have been chasing the autumn colors almost since the first moment we met. It's astounding to actually CATCH them like this, such a miracle, such a blessing, like walking around in a fever dream. Oh, and we've got a song for that: Tom Petty, with Runnin' Down a Dream.

*Note: All of the quotes in the first part are from the film The Princess Bride.  It's one of our all-time favorites. If you've never seen it, go do it NOW!  :-)