The Outing Club and Green Students of Color Society hosted a hike along French Creek with the French Creek Valley Conservancy on Sunday, Oct. 22. The hike was led by French Creek Valley Conservancy’s Education and Outreach Specialist Judy Acker, ’98.
Outing Club often hosts nature trips during the October Energy Challenge to encourage students to leave their rooms in an effort to conserve energy and educate students about the surrounding environment.
The French Creek hike started with students gathering at Morris Road as Acker explained the path the group would take. After that, Acker led the group straight to arrive at a cliff overlooking the railroad tracks. There, Acker discussed how working at the conservancy meant dealing with a lot of inappropriate people, especially at Brock’s Lookout which is a public area.
There have been numerous incidents of visitors riding their ATVs on the trail, which poses a danger to French Creek. ATVs have the potential to disturb the already sensitive ecosystem due to noise pollution and disruption of animal habitats. After observing the view from the edge, the group took a right to walk the rest of the path before taking another right to land back at Morris Road.
The group walked across to Kayden’s Landing and hiked down near the creek to check out the view. After exiting the trail, Acker went on to explain the difference between preservation and conservation. Preservation is buying a piece of land and just letting it grow wild without interference, she said. Conservation is actively managing a piece of land, sometimes by removing invasive species and trying to re-establish an ecosystem with mostly native species.
After walking through the McGuffintown Bridge in a single-file line to avoid being hit by traffic, the group arrived at the third and final site, Lupher’s Landing. Acker had explained previously the site was originally going to be used as a landing dock until someone identified an endangered species where the dock was meant to go. The importance of conserving the endangered species outweighed the landing dock, so the dock was not constructed.
Not everything at Lupher’s Landing is native, however. As Acker pointed out, the land houses Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant species. French Creek Valley Conservancy decided to leave the knotweed rather then eradicate it due to how many of its seeds had already spread throughout the land. She also called hikers’ attention to spotted burrs from the burdock plant and explained that the plant served as the inspiration behind Velcro.
For one of the hikers, Sydney Thompson, ’26, education was a highlight of the trip.
“We learned about the French Creek Conservancy and how the property we were hiking on was protected and maintained,” Thompson said. “I had fun. I thought it was a learning experience and I also got to spend time with friends and get away from my studies.”
After exiting the site and checking their bodies for any ticks, the group retreated back to Morris Road to conclude the hiking journey.