🐦 Picking berries and watching birds | Outdoorsy Newsletter

June is National Great Outdoors Month. Good thing we’re here to empower you to enjoy the outside world in any month of the year. (...Maaaybe with the exception of the super icy ones.)

⛅ Your weekend weather outlook: Grab an umbrella; it’s a wet one. Showers and some thunderstorms are likely Friday and Saturday. Sunday should be mostly sunny and warm in the 80s.

Today, we’re enjoying the fruits of the season, making a challenging climb through rocky terrain, and learning the art of birdwatching.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

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— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, outdoorsy@inquirer.com)

Ever heard the saying, “Life is a bowl of cherries”? Personally, I’m perfectly okay with that. As long as they’re rainier cherries.

For me, summertime is synonymous with enjoying some of my favorite fruits and veggies at their peak taste. Rainier cherries are at the top of that list, so I’m flipping through pickyourown.org to find them fresh in Pennsylvania.

There is no shortage of orchards and farms around offering us the opportunity to pick our own delights. Take Weaver’s Orchard in Berks County, for example.

🍑 What they offer: Peaches, nectarines, blackberries, blueberries, and apple and pear varieties.

🌳 Keep it outdoorsy: Take a 15-minute drive to nearby French Creek State Park if you’re up for a hike, or wildlife watching and fishing fun.

⏰ Mind the time: Stop by starting at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday until 3:30 p.m. On Fridays you can pick until 5:30 p.m., and Saturdays until 3:30 p.m. Weaver also has a farm market, open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

🧺 Picking pro-tips: Some orchards let you bring your own containers for your precious cargo, but Weaver’s offers prepaid containers. Also, if you’re looking for a specific crop, call ahead of time to see what’s available for picking that day.

Go picking with our full list of area farms and orchards to check out.

🎤 Now I’m passing the microphone to Jason Nark. Jason reports on rural parts of Pennsylvania and the outdoors far from city life. You’ll always find his work here.

Four bedraggled hikers lounged in the bowels of a mountain church, peeling off their socks to reveal a horror show of purplish bruises and blisters like schools of jellyfish. They had just about conquered Pennsylvania’s 229 miles of Appalachian Trail, but the state took its toll. Their boots and trail running shoes were gnarled, as if they fell into a wood chipper, and most of them said they’d need replacements before hitting the trail again.

“It’s just, the rocks. The rocks here are relentless,” said Matthew “Maps” Mueller, a Boston native who began his journey on Georgia’s Springer Mountain in February. “We’ve heard the rocks start to stop here, so there’s that.”

The Delaware River was right down the road, and beyond it, approximately 900 miles to the trail’s terminus atop Maine’s Mt. Katahdin. Some thru-hikers turn back after crossing the river and wave goodbye to Pennsylvania with two middle fingers. Others scream it aloud. One thru-hiker who went by “Smasher” even wrote a song, basically telling Pennsylvania to go... — Jason Nark

Continue reading in Jason’s full feature story on this treacherous trail. 🔑

Bird is the word. Before you get into birding, here are some tips to start.

🐦 You don’t have to wear a khaki outfit, be totally silent when you’re in the field, or defer to other birders based on their level of expertise.

🐦 To stay safe, let someone know where you’re going and when. You can drop a pin on a map, or send a text, or better yet, bring someone else along.

🐦 If you’re birding in your backyard, forgo the bird feeder, and opt to plant native plants instead — as they provide natural food for area birds.

🐦 Important context: An unknown disease has been killing many birds in the Mid-Atlantic region this year, and while it’s not clear if bird feeders are helping spread it, it’s probably safest to take yours down for now just in case they are.

🐦 Be respectful of the birds and their habitat. Avoid approaching or disturbing them, keep off of private property, don’t litter and don’t use any technology to play bird calls.

Our guide offers more pro-tips, gear kits and where to go in Philadelphia.

Before you ask... yeah, it’s real. Legal? Well, there are layers to it.

June 21 is Naked (or Nude) Hiking Day, an unofficial holiday to soak your buns in the sun on the longest day of the year. Before you go al fresco ... literally ... consider these must-have items for your backpack.

🥾 shoes (probably best to go with boots)

🍫 water and food

☀️ extra sunscreen

👕 the clothes you’re not wearing.

Jason has more on the tradition and, if you’re nude curious, how to do it properly.

🎤 Jason says: This is a view from the middle of Cherry Creek in Delaware Water Gap, Pa.

Don’t mind me, just closing my eyes and feeling the bliss rush over me...

This week, Neil Bardhan of South Philly has a spot to share: “I aim to get to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge once every season for a driving tour, and sometimes I’m even successful! It’s a sweet day trip from the city, or a nice diversion while down the shore.”

I’m intrigued. Here’s what I learned about it, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of Forsythe NWR.

🌾 In their own words: The wildlife refuge protects more than 48,000 acres of southern New Jersey coastal habitats. Wetlands make up more than 82% of the refuge, and 78% of that area is salt marsh, scattered with shallow coves and bays spanning 50 miles along the back bays of the coast.

🦅 Specializing in birds: The refuge is located in one of the Atlantic Flyway’s most active flight paths, making it an important link in seasonal bird migration. It also supports one of the largest breeding populations of the federally threatened piping plover.

🚗 There’s a fee: $2 for walkers or bicyclists, or for the driving tour Neil mentioned, it’s $4 for private cars and $20 and up for tours or commercial vehicles, depending on the size of your group.

✍️ In The Inquirer: Our columnist Kevin Riordan highlighted the New Jersey wildlife refuge as a source of visual and musical inspiration.

🧠 Fun fact: The refuge is named after a popular Republican congressman of the 1970s-80s from Burlington County.

Thanks for bringing this spot to our attention, Neil. It takes me back to my swampy Florida roots. I’ve got the wildlife drive on my adventure to-do list.

📮 Give us a review of your outdoors experience for a chance to be featured in this newsletter by emailing me back.

It’s fun getting to know my Outdoorsy readers better. We’re on this journey together, after all, and I love that we can learn from each other.

By the time we link up again next week, it’ll officially be summer, a.k.a. Cancer szn! Any other fellow crabs out there?