Hemlocks to Hellbenders

Since the 1930s, generations of birders have made their way to Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch, a 125-acre rocky outcrop perched atop the Kittatinny Ridge. Waggoner’s Gap is the second-oldest hawk watch in the United States and one of the premier places on the East Coast to spot these magnificent birds. 

With binoculars in hand and eyes turned toward the sky, they gather to witness one of nature’s great migrations. Sixteen species of hawks, eagles, falcons and vultures, along with more than 150 species of songbirds, pass through these skies as they journey south for the winter.

Straddling Cumberland and Perry Counties, Waggoner’s Gap is managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. 

At Waggoner’s Gap, the landscape itself becomes a guide. Rising warm air creates invisible currents called thermals, allowing birds of prey to catch the wind and soar across the ridges with barely a flap of their wings.

Each autumn, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 raptors pass over Waggoner’s Gap. Sharp-shinned, Broad-winged, Cooper’s and Red-tailed hawks sweep overhead. Northern Harriers skim the landscape, while Turkey vultures ride the rising air. And Bald Eagles, symbols of strength and freedom, trace their paths across the horizon.

But among the many birds that travel this ancient corridor, few inspire quite the same sense of wonder as the Golden Eagle.

With dark plumage touched by golden-brown feathers and wingspans reaching six feet, Golden Eagles possess a presence that can stop a conversation in its tracks.

Yet Waggoner’s Gap is about more than the birds. It’s also about the people who return, season after season, to witness their passage.

Spend a day on these rocks, and you’ll discover a community bound together by a shared fascination. For five months each year, volunteers gather on the ridge to identify, count and record the birds moving south. Between sightings, they catch up on the lives unfolding around them. They talk about recent trips, weddings, births and deaths. They celebrate graduations, admire a new camera and share the little milestones that make up a life.

Some have been doing this for decades. They return not only because the birds are extraordinary, but because the people beside them have become friends. 

For more than 30 years, my guest has returned to Waggoner’s Gap to be part of that effort. And when asked why he continues to do it, his answer was beautifully simple: “the birds.”

On this episode, I speak with David Grove. Dave is the site coordinator at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch.

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis

There’s something about a good ghost story that stays with you. Maybe you heard your first one around a campfire, with the flames popping and crackling while someone swore they knew somebody who knew somebody who actually saw the ghost.

Maybe it was a story your grandparents told you. Or something an older kid whispered on the school bus. Maybe you grew up hearing about a haunted house down the road, a strange light in the woods, a creature that lived in a nearby lake, or some mysterious person who supposedly wandered the roads late at night.

And when you were a kid, you believed it. Or at least… you wanted to believe it. Because there’s something wonderful about being a kid and realizing that the world might be just a little stranger than adults let on.

That dark patch of woods behind your house wasn’t just a bunch of trees. Maybe something lived back there. That strange noise you heard at night wasn’t necessarily the wind. Maybe it was something else.

And that old abandoned building everyone told you to stay away from? Well, obviously, it was haunted. As we get older, we tend to become a little more skeptical. We learn about science. We learn how easily our eyes and ears can fool us.

But I don't think we ever completely lose that sense of wonder. Especially here in Pennsylvania. We live in a place with deep forests, towering mountains, winding rivers, isolated roads, abandoned towns, old taverns and centuries of history.

And wherever you have places like that, you’re going to have stories. Stories about ghosts. Stories about mysterious creatures. Stories about people who disappeared. Stories about strange lights in the sky. Stories about things seen in the woods that nobody could quite explain. 

And some of those stories have been passed down for generations. You may have heard some of them yourself. The Bigfoot. The Squonk. The Albatwitch. Maybe you heard about a lake monster in Lake Erie. Or maybe there was a particular haunted road, bridge, cemetery or house in your hometown that everyone seemed to know about.

Those stories are more than just Halloween entertainment. They’re part of the folklore of a place. They tell us something about the landscape around us, about the people who lived here before us, and about the things that we still don't completely understand.

And honestly, I think there’s something pretty special about sitting around and telling these stories. Because whether you believe in ghosts and cryptids or not, there’s a moment when you're listening to a really good story when you start thinking… What if? 

What if that really happened? What if somebody actually saw something out there? What if there really is something in those Pennsylvania woods that we haven't found yet?

And maybe that’s why these stories never really disappear. The details change. The names change. The stories get passed from one generation to another. But the feeling stays the same. That little bit of uncertainty. That little bit of fear. And that little bit of excitement that comes from wondering what might be waiting just beyond the edge of the firelight. 

On this episode, I speak with Brendon Perry and Nic Pennsylvania. They are the hosts of The Ghost Furnace Podcast and 2024 Hellie Award Winners of Favorite Episode. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
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Wouldn’t it be nice to just get away from the crowds? To visit a park that’s not crammed with people, with their music, and their yapping dogs and all their other stuff. To experience some damn peace and quiet.

Since the pandemic, outdoor spaces have become incredibly popular. Cabins and campsites are booked months in advance. Beaches are crowded with families in the summer. And trails are seeing more visitors than ever. 

So where can we go to get away from it? The answer is state forests. But, not everyone wants a wilderness experience. They want to spend time in the outdoors while still being close to a bathroom and their car. It’s a sentiment I share. So are there any state parks that are not crowded?

Yes, there is. They’re not hidden gems per se. But they are quiet refuges. Crowds never get too big. Parking lots never get too full. And there’s still an opportunity to hike, mountain bike, picnic, fish and stay overnight without feeling like you’re being smothered by people. 

One such quiet refuge is Yellow Creek State Park in Indiana County. 

Located on the western edge of the Allegheny Mountains, Yellow Creek State Park is a quiet escape surrounded by rolling hills. At less than 3,000 acres, the park is small but not too small. 

The centerpiece of the park is Yellow Creek Lake. Any time spent at the park should be at or in the lake. You can fish, paddle, swim or just relax on the beach.

Can’t you imagine having a perfect lazy morning here, watching the fog roll off the hills with a cup of warm coffee in your hand. 

Reading a book at the beach before going for a swim. Having a picnic while watching the migrating birds. Taking a hike without the noise of a ceaseless world. Don’t you need that? Don’t you deserve that? I think you do.  And Yellow Creek State Park is the perfect place to unwind. 

On this episode, I speak with James Tweardy. James is the manager of Yellow Creek State Park. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
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Pennsylvania is home to lot of interesting and unique habitats. We have old growth forests, meadows, grasslands, lowlands, highlands, rivers, lakes, creeks, mountains, hills and glaciated plateaus. 

And it’s not difficult to find these habitats, as they’re spread across the Commonwealth. One habitat, however, is not so easy to find. One is home to unique plants, animals and conditions that cannot be found with a short drive.

And that habitat is a bog. 

Developed over thousands of years, bogs are rare in Pennsylvania. A lot of things must happen just right for a bog to be created in Pennsylvania. The water must be acidic, but not too acidic, and low, but not too low, in nutrients. Decayed plants must form soft, spongy peat at the bottom. 

And even if that occurs, the bogs must remain undisturbed from development, deforestation and environmental degradation. It’s not easy being a bog. But it is important. 

Bogs play a critical role in our connected environment. Bogs – and in general wetlands - are important for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, water regulation, soil health and plenty more. 

And if none of that matters to you, bogs are just cool. They’re mysterious. They’re rare. And they’re beautiful. Coming upon a bog brings about feelings of ancient creation. Of deep, deep history. Of life and death. A sanctum sanctorum.

But there aren’t many places in Pennsylvania to explore bogs. They’re not found in most state parks and forests, making the few publicly available sites even more special to visitors. 

On this episode, I speak with Dr. Mary Ann Furedi. Mary Ann is an ecologist and the ecological assessment manager at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
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Here’s a trivia question for you. What is the largest edible fruit tree native to North America? It’s not the persimmon. Or the wild apple. And it’s not the cherry tree. 

It’s a little-known, misunderstood tree that’s fruit was consumed by Native Americans, European settlers and colonists for hundreds of years before all-but-disappearing from American consciousness. 

It’s the pawpaw tree which produces the pawpaw fruit. The greenish-yellow, kidney-shaped fruits ripen in late summer to early fall. The fruit has a creamy, custard-like texture and a flavor reminiscent of banana, mango and vanilla. 

It’s been called the “poor-man’s banana” and the “Appalachian banana.”

After generations in the dark, the pawpaw has been making a resurgence in recent years. Breweries have begun making beer out of the fruit. You can find pawpaws used in ice cream. And there’s even a festival hosted by Horn Farm Center in York County that celebrates the tree and fruit every year in September.

But, what’s the reason for this revival? Is it because people are learning more about native plants? Is it that the tree has increased its growing range? Is it that more people are spending time outdoors and are now discovering the forgotten fruit? 

While this episode will address these questions, it’ll also take an in-depth look at the pawpaw. The tree, the fruit and much more. 

On this episode, I speak with Dr. Eric Burkhart. Eric is a botanist, ethnobotanist, and agroforester as well as a professor at Penn State University. 

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In 1608, English explorer and soldier of fortune John Smith left Jamestown, Virginia, on a mission to chart the upper Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries - including the Susquehanna River. He became the first European to find out that the Susquehanna is non-navigable. 

That’s because of the many, many obstacles in the mighty Susquehanna. There are countless natural barriers such as rapids and waterfalls. Also, the Susquehanna is famously a mile wide and a foot deep. These are just some of the factors that have prevented development of a continuous commercial waterway.

But that wouldn’t stop generations of people from trying. However, no matter how much they tried, no matter how much money they spent, they couldn’t do it. Then, utility companies came calling. 

If they couldn’t navigate the river, they would dam it and use it to produce electricity. 

But that created its own problems. Obstructions blocked the paths of fish that needed to swim upriver to get to their spawning grounds. Native species such as American shad and eels were dying at historic numbers. 

Solutions had to be developed to keep these important populations alive. But nothing has made a serious difference. One dam has a fish elevator that transports fish over the dam. Then, they the fish have to be trucked further up river. 

Fish passages were created, but older designs have not been incredibly helpful with guiding fish upstream. A new way of thinking was needed. A new kind of passageway was needed. 

In 2025, Shikellamy State Park became home to one of the largest and most naturalistic fishways on the East Coast. Located at the confluence of the North and West branches of the Susquehanna River, this new naturalistic fish passage would help aquatic life go around the park’s inflatable dam. 

Let’s learn more about this incredible project. 

On this episode, I speak with Gabriel Martin and Ben Bender. Gabe is a project civil engineer at Kleinschmidt Group and Ben is the Park Manager at Shikellamy State Park. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
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There’s something about a trail map that just makes me excited for an adventure. The contour lines, the roads, the trails, the bodies of water, the towns. Trail maps – when made well – keep you safely on the trail. 

Maps have always been incredibly important - whether you were crossing oceans or just crossing town. But, as technology improved, maps became used less and less. 

Now, most people rely on their phones to get from place to place. And that works most of the time. But what happens if you don’t have signal or run out of power? You’re stranded in a forest with a useless phone.

Not ideal. For generations, hikers have been urged to carry a map with them when they hit the trails. The universally accepted list of the 10 essential items when hiking includes navigation.

And I would argue a well-made, locally created map is the best option. The number one reason to carry a map is for safety. When you have a map, you know where you’re going. That’s important when you’re surrounded by trees miles from the nearest town.

A well-designed map also builds confidence by making unfamiliar places feel accessible. Beginners are more likely to venture onto trails when they know where they are and where they're going. Experienced hikers use maps to plan longer or more challenging routes.

Navigation, safety and building confidence are important. Critical. But, one my favorite aspects of maps is that they encourage exploration. And when a real artist designs one, they guide you on adventures. 

The author Mark Jenkins once wrote, “Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.” I like that. I really like that. 

Looking at a map inspires people to discover trails, features, structures, historical places and locations they never knew existed. I can’t help but ask “what is that?,” “how can I see that,” “where does this lead” when looking at a map. 

Maps are possibilities and possibilities are adventures. And there is no better example of maps leading you on adventures than Purple Lizard Maps.

Purple Lizard Maps has set the gold standard for outdoor recreation maps in Pennsylvania and beyond. They combine exceptional cartographic accuracy with a genuine passion for exploration, creating maps that are as beautiful as they are practical.

Every edition reflects countless hours of fieldwork, research and thoughtful design, giving hikers, paddlers, cyclists, and outdoor enthusiasts the confidence to venture farther and discover places they might otherwise miss.

What truly sets Purple Lizard Maps apart is their ability to tell the story of a landscape. They don't simply mark trails — they reveal scenic overlooks, hidden natural features, historic sites, campsites, public lands, and countless opportunities for adventure. 

These maps inspire curiosity, encourage exploration, and foster a deeper appreciation for the forests, mountains, rivers, and communities that make each region unique. They have become trusted companions for everyone from first-time hikers to seasoned backpackers, proving that in an age of digital navigation, a thoughtfully crafted paper map remains one of the most valuable tools an explorer can carry.

On this episode, I speak with Mike Hermann. Mike is the founder of Purple Lizard Maps. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
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There’s no law or policy that requires Pennsylvania to keep creating new state parks. Over the history of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – and its various other names through the years – new state parks have been added and subtracted. 

There have been times when we added dozens of new state parks. Under Dr. Maurice K. Goddard, the Department of Parks and Forests – as it was called then - added 45 new state parks and 130,000 acres of land between 1955 and 1979. Dr. Goddard proposed building a state park within 25 miles of every resident of Pennsylvania.

But growth to the state park system slowed down in the 1980s and 90s. The commonwealth entered a phase of improvement – focusing more on upgrading facilities than adding many more parks. 

We’ve also been in possession of a number of state parks that we eventually relinquished control to another entity. Such as Valley Forge, Independence Mall, Fort Necessity and Brandywine Battlefield. 

That’s the thing. Depending on state leadership, availability of funds, the economy, political priorities, availability of lands and which governor is in charge, there is no guarantee that we will get new state parks. 

So when we get a new state park, it’s important that we celebrate. Enter Laural Caverns State Park – Pennsylvania’s 125th state park and its first subterranean park. 

What started out as a tourist attraction in the southwestern part of the state, is now a state park giving visitors a chance to explore 4 miles of underground passageways. Laurel Caverns is the largest sandstone cave in the world and one of the world’s steepest caves.

Guided tours provide visitors with the opportunity to walk or crawl through incredible geologic features. Most of the passage ceilings in the underground labyrinth are between ten and twenty feet high and many as high as 50 feet.  

This makes it the largest cave in Pennsylvania.  And it now belongs to the people of Pennsylvania. How amazing is that?! 

On this episode I speak with Corie Eckman. Carie is the manager Laurel Caverns State Park. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
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CORRECTION: The Loyalsock Trail and the Old Loggers Path is maintained by the Alpine Club of Williamsport.

When people find out that I’ve visited every state park, I often get asked the same question. What’s my favorite? And consistently I give the same answer, Worlds End State Park. 

It’s an easy answer for me since I fell in love with the park the first time I walked into the s-shaped gorge to see it surrounded by tree-covered mountains and boulders. But when it comes to state forests, I haven’t always had an answer. And that’s because I just haven’t spent enough time in them to give an educated answer. 

That was until 2024. In September of that year, I went on a Slack Pack with the Keystone Trails Association. Slack Packs allow you to get dropped off and picked up at the trial every day while leaving the majority of your gear and meals back at the campsite. Hence, having a slack pack.

Over the course of few days, we hiked about 20 miles on the Loyalsock Trail through Loyalsock State Forest. The state forest – which surrounds Worlds End – provided me with everything I wanted. Mountains. Views. Waterfalls. Big beautiful tress. 

It was the most time I’d ever spent in a Pennsylvania state forest. And, still, the best time. 

I contend that if you can’t find something unique or special or breathtaking over Loyalsock State Forest’s nearly 115,000 acres, then buddy, you ain’t trying. Loyalsock simply has it all. And all of it is splendid. 

From the cool rushing waters of Loyalsock Creek, to the beautiful nightsky at High Knob Astronomy Area, there is a lot to take in on the forest. And since it covers three counties in northcentral Pennsylvania, you will have plenty of opportunities to explore new places and find new things to fall in love with. 

On this episode, I speak with Eric Probert to the podcast. Eric is the district manager at Loyalsock State Forest. 

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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis

What’s the best gift you’ve been given? It’s a tough question. I’ve been fortunate to have received a lot of great gifts over the years. The minibike from my parents. The engraved knife from my brother. The souvenir medal from my wife. And countless others. 

They’re awesome and they each hold a special place in my heart. 

But when I learned of the recent gift that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania received, it stopped me in my tracks. In 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced it had been given and has added Bilgers Rocks to the Moshannon State Forest.

Some of you may be thinking, “Who cares about a bunch of dusty old rocks. That’s not a great gift.” But listen here, you have no idea how amazing this place is. It’s the definition of a hidden gem. 

Bilgers Rocks is centered around a multi-acre rock formation that brings visitors through a stunning rock city. With little in the way of handrails and safety features, you can walk through towering sandstone blocks, crawl in rock rooms, squeeze between ancient boulders and explore carvings from visitors past. 

I was in awe the first time I stood on top of and in between these giant walls of rock. It feels like you’re exploring a prehistoric city. Like you’re Indiana Jones searching for treasure. It’s otherworldly and outstanding. And now, a part of our state forest system. 

 So, before we get to the interviews, I want to thank the Bilgers Rocks Association -- for its dedication to preservation, for its steadfast stewardship and for its one-of-a-kind gift.

Knowing that Bilgers Rocks will be protected for generations of Pennsylvanians to come makes me and many others so happy. Thank you, so much. 

On this episode, I speak with John Hecker, Gary Gilmore and Mariah Dunsmore to the podcast. John is the District Manager of the Moshannon State Forest and Gary and Mariah are with the Bilgers Rocks Association. 

Be sure to support our 2026 sponsors:
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Support the show

Visit our website to learn more about the podcast, to purchase merch and to find out about our incredible sponsors. Follow us on Instagram and Meta to stay connected. 

Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis