HUNT: Jennifer Klaiber submitted a note to The Era sharing her experience completing the 2021 Super Summer Scavenger Hunt by the Pennsylvania Magazine. She explained they read about it in ‘RTS and “thought it would be fun to get the items while enjoying our state this summer. Well, this scavenger hunt proved to be more of a challenge than we anticipated. We learned how to navigate a variety of internet sites to find the items.”

Klaiber shared attempts to complete items on the list, some successful and some not so much.

“When we tried to visit a Champion tree in Ridgway, Elk County; we arrived to find it gone. It had last been measured in 2003. Our second attempt at a Champion tree, we visited Cooks Forest to the old growth Eastern white pines in the Forest Cathedral. We wanted to find a tree known as “Longfellow,” the largest of the species in the northeastern US. Once again, this was quite a challenge as the champion trees are not marked. We hope our journey and proof of hiking to find the trees is enough to score a point in the section.”

Meanwhile, they had a bit of a trial when it came to the pressed penny as well.

“While working on the pressed penny, we were visiting friends in Harrisburg over Memorial day weekend, excited to get an item at the state capital. We completed a pressed penny in Harrisburg, hoping to capture the Eastern penny. This was before receiving the Pennsylvania magazine with the map of PA, only to find out Harrisburg is in the central location.”

Klaiber took a trip to Erie to visit family and, after some failed attempts, managed to secure a West pressed penny at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. We will have a second RTS sharing more adventures.