A November Visit To The Virtual Valley
From educational videos and virtual events at the Creekside Classroom to coloring pages and craft projects in Larks and Recreation, there’s always lots to see in our online Wissahickon. Here’s what’s stood out to us this year!
Above: photo credit to Anne Bekker!
10. Backyard Birds
We started off a springtime of virtual programming and the spring migration with this awesome Virtual Valley Talk from avian expert Ruth Pfeffer – and it’s a ton of fun! If you want to get into birding, there’s no better way than Ruth’s breathtaking photos and expert advice.
9. Getting Crafty with the Covered Bridge!
There’s tons of word searches, trivia, craft projects, and more at the Larks and Recreation side of the valley, but our absolute favorite has to be this amazing paper foldable of the Thomas Mill Covered Bridge. Many thanks to Bryan Green of paperfoldables.com for donating the design – download it here!
8. Peace in the Valley
Oh, so relaxing. Check out more videos here!
7. Love Letters to the Red Covered Bridge
Thomas Mill Covered Bridge has its passionate fans. Check out some of their love letters to the bridge in Wissahickon Reflections!
6. Good Night, Wissahickon Valley Park!
Trail Ambassadors Stephanie Stein and Rose Fischer traveled all over the park to get to locations in “Good Night Wissahickon Valley Park” for this virtual storytime. We’re hugely impressed.
5. Talking rocks!
We had an amazing time talking rocks this year with Sarah West (and TAs Lisa Myers and Jenny Prince), and they put together some awesome self-guided geology tours for the Wissahickon you can do on your next hike! The Bells Mill to Northwestern Avenue tour is also on FOW’s new map app, if you want to bring it along with you…
4. Mushrooming with a Mycologist
Mycologist Sam Bucciarelli from the Philadelphia Mycology Club showed us some amazing mushrooms in the Wissahickon on our mushroom walk – and taught us how to identify them using the iNaturalist app!
3. Take a hike through history
FOW Trail Ambassadors put in stellar work to put together the in-depth archive of the Wissahickon’s history in the Trails to the Past section – including a map of significant historical sites. Even better, most of this history is on our map app, so you can catch up on the past while you’re in the park!
2. Sketching the creek
Our very talented Trail Ambassador Jane Klein showed us how to draw a beautiful Wissahickon scene – and while our own sketching efforts may not have turned out so well, hers is absolutely gorgeous.
1. Speaking with the original stewards of the Wissahickon
This year, we were honored to host council members of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania for a Virtual Valley Talk – and we urge you to watch it here!