Free fun awaits at state parks | Outdoorsy Newsletter

We need to talk about this heatwave.

Who asked for a scorcher summer? You got your wish. This month has been so hot that scientists are virtually certain we will break the record for the warmest July on record.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey are feeling the heat, with some areas under advisories and warnings due to dangerously high temperatures and heat index values pushing past 100.

Bracing myself for sweat, I got to thinking about exactly what the heat index means. My colleague Anthony Wood thankfully read my mind, and covered the bases explaining what it really means when they say it will “feel like 105.”

We also have you covered with places to cool down for free in Philly, how to recognize and treat dehydration and heat exhaustion, and how to protect your furry friends too; information for NJ cooling centers and other resources are available here.

☀️ Your weekend weather outlook: Heat and mugginess are forecast to persist through Saturday, and then we can forget about heat indexes for awhile. Strong showers are possible Saturday night, but we can expect the month to end on Sunday with one of the most splendid days of the season.

📮 How do you beat the heat? Got any life hacks I should know about? Tell me about your experience by emailing me back.

In this newsletter, we explore the outdoors together. But you could also dine around the world — without ever leaving our region — with The Inquirer’s illustrious restaurant critic Craig LaBan in a new and exciting inbox-exclusive series, Taste Philly. Sign up for free here.

We’re balling on a budget this summer, so today, we’re spending a grand total of $0 at these state parks. We’ll also meet a “griefblogger” coping with loss through birding, and enjoy a secret spot among healing plants. But most importantly, we are staying hydrated, folks! Grab your water and let’s go.

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

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Forget about buying beach tags or expensive rentals, and save money on outdoor excursions this summer with one simple trick — visiting a state park.

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, there are no entrance fees to state parks. Outside Philadelphia, there are at least a dozen state parks jam-packed with nature hikes, swimming, boating, and historical sites around every corner of the thousands of acres of parkland, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. For example:

🌳 If you want to feel the majesty of nature through trails and forests, Wharton State Forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and Tyler State Park in Newtown boast thousands of acres of gorgeous hikes, plus plenty of room for activities like kayaking and wildlife watching.

📜 For the history buffs looking to learn more about the world around us, Fort Mott State Park is an excellent place to explore old technologies and even take advantage of biking trails after a picnic. There’s also Washington Crossing State Park, home to hundreds of artifacts from the Revolutionary War.

🏊🏽‍♀️ And if you’re looking for fun in the water, look no further than Island Beach State Park to find everything you could want from a Jersey Shore day trip (without the beach tags or entrance fees). Parvin State Park is also a great choice to take a swim in Parvin Lake, or go fishing or canoeing.

Your free ticket to fun this summer awaits. Get full details on each state park adventure here.

🎤 Now I’m passing the microphone to Jason Nark. You’ll always find his work here.

The forest, at first, was a place to cry. She carried her sadness into swamps and meadows too, hiking beneath blue skies and charcoal clouds, always pleading to a higher power. Christy Hyman was looking for a way to live again, after the death of her son, and nature, specifically birds, showed her the way.

“When you see a bird, you focus on something seemingly pure and untouched from the worries of life, but this bird, at every single moment is trying to survive, to not be eaten. You start rooting for their survival. You buy bird seed. You care about them,” Hyman, 43, said Thursday morning at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge. “It’s weird, but the more novel experiences I have with birds, the more stories, the more places I visit, it’s like I’m creating new, hopeful memories that counteract moments of sadness.”

Hyman recently took a leave of absence from Mississippi State University, where she taught in the department of geosciences, to embark on a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University. She describes herself as a historical geographer and digital humanist but when her son, Ricky Gerard Dawkins Jr., died unexpectedly on August 3, 2020 in Nebraska, she also became a “griefblogger” and an accidental birder.

“In my life, it was the birds that kept me going,” Hyman wrote on her blog on the second anniversary of Ricky’s death. — Jason Nark

Keep reading all about how birding and nature have helped Hyman grapple with unexpected loss.

In recent years, I accidentally started a new tradition: visiting museums, as a birthday gift to myself.

This year, I picked the Mütter Museum. I know what you’re probably thinking — that’s how you want to spend a special day? Yes! I believe living is learning. Now that I’ve explored it myself, I agree that it’s “disturbingly informative” and uniquely Philadelphian.

But aside from the Mütter’s mind-blowing exhibits, there’s a secret spot that I almost left without seeing during my visit: the Benjamin Rush Medicinal Plant Garden. Here’s what I learned about it:

🪻 The College of Physicians established the garden adjacent to the Museum in 1937. Don’t miss it — on your way into the main Museum galleries, you pass right by a room that opens to the garden.

🌷 It contains more than 60 different herbs with historical and sometimes contemporary medicinal value.

🌼 Each plant is tagged with its name and some of its potential medical uses. For example, pictured above are coneflowers, also known as echinacea, which you may find as an ingredient in supplements.

🌸 Photos are not permitted in the main Museum galleries, but you can take all the snaps you want in the garden.

📮 Have you explored this garden before? I would love to see your plant photography. Share them by emailing me back.

🎤 Jason says: This is the Jadwin Dam overlook in Honesdale, Pa.

Last week, we went for a dip into the Poconos’ best swimming areas, and I asked you to submit your special swim memories or favorite spots. Here’s one from Lynne Wlodarczyk of Middletown, Del., recounting their childhood in Havertown, Pa.:

There was a woods and creek at the end of our street. My friends and I would wade in the creek, careful not to get our clothes wet. Mom didn’t know what we were doing, but it didn’t matter. This was the 1950s and children were safe no matter where they went. As long as we were home before dark, we could do what we wanted to. Dad occasionally took the family to French Creek park where we could swim in the lake there. I guess it still is there. It was so long ago — a different age and a different time.

Thank you for letting us dive into your memory. In the words of Mac DeMarco, “Salad days are gone / Remembering things just to tell ‘em, ‘so long.’”

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

August adventures are at our doorstep. Alexa, play that song... you know the one.