I drove to Philadelphia on Saturday, after a bit of a medical scare back home. Everything is now stable and so I headed out to clear my head and get some exercise in the cold and snow. I decided I would head over to Fairmount Park to hike at Valley Green, but this time I would go somewhere different. I made the drive over to Northwestern Avenue where I parked and hit the trail. It's hard to believe that after living in the area for 20 plus years I had never hiked in the Andorra Natural Area. That would change today.
I picked up a trail map at the Tree House and hit the icy trails.
My first destination was the "Great Beech" a European Beech that was planted over 150 years ago and became the Pennsylvania state champion for its species.
It is certainly an impressive tree. From the beech I headed up the trail to the Fallen Magnolia tree which had a trunk diameter of over 4 feet when it toppled over in 2008.
From the magnolia I headed out to check out the ruins of the Black farmhouse.
Not much remains of the building, but the setting in a snowy meadow was lovely.
From the farmhouse ruins I found my way to the Green Trail which led down to Bell's Mill Road and the Forbidden Drive. I thought the hiking would be easier on the Forbidden Drive, but the drive was pure ice. I slid and skated back to the car.
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