My walking boots lay in the same place where I kicked them off 5 days ago after finishing the 21 mile Walk for the Wissahickon along the Green Ribbon Trail.  The sore legs, blisters on my feet, and yellow jacket stings come with a new insight on one of my favorite places in Philadelphia, the Wissahickon Creek and its watershed.

The Green Ribbon Trail is made up of a string of flood plain easements that wind south through Montgomery County, before the creek and trail meet up with Fort Washington State Park, and then builds momentum as it flows through the storied Wissahickon section of Fairmount Park and onto its final destination the Schuylkill River.  The walk is for the most part wooded and green, but just outside the flood plain that makes up the trail it easy to spot new construction.  It is easy to see the tenuous relationship between the creek and encroaching development and sprawl and the pollution that results.

At one point our group is trespassing on private property along the edge of an exclusive country club that has refused to contribute access to continue the trail southward. The course is green and lush, most likely from heavy pesticide use.  One of the walkers relates a story of being warned that some of the golfers aim for hikers.  And soon, we hop a fence and pass along a road belonging to a closed chemical factory.  Later on, as we near Ambler we are asked to sign a petition to help build grassroots support for the removal of asbestos from a Superfund site on the banks of the creek. Ambler was once a major center of asbestos mining and now has a surplus of the material on its hands.

We think of the water we are carrying with us. Sometimes referred to a “Schuylkill Punch”, the Philadelphia drinking water came in part from the creek that we followed.

At the heart of the trail is the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association’s headquarters in Ambler.  Around mile 8 or 9 of the hike, we stopped at their headquaters in an converted 19th century stone barn structure and were treated to a very nice lunch.  The WVWA began piecing together the land that makes of the trail in the early 1970’s and has been holding the annual walk and survey of their accomplishment for many years.

For over half of the walk I was in great physical pain. I am reminded that walking uses a completely separate set of muscles than biking.  So I was very happy when our walk ended at the Schulylkill River and we were treated to an early dinner of cole slaw and hamburgers on the grounds of the Philadelphia Canoe Club clubhouse,  built over 100 years ago on the confluence of the Wissahickon Creek and Schuylkill river.  After dinner and a group photo we were given a tour the building and invited back to take part in classes or in the upcoming square dance. Just as the Green River Trail holds together a large tract of land stretching many miles,…..

The Magic Garden

A visit to Philadelphia’s Magic Garden gives you the opportunity to get inside the head of Philadelphia artist Isiah Zagar. He expresses himself in many different mediums, including sculpture, wood carving, painting and assembled found objects. But the staple of his work is mosaic, a project which has been an ongoing for decades and has left its mark on a large portion of South Street. His are mosaics are large, and take up entire sides of buildings, and incorporate broken tiles, mirrors, glass, ceramics, and are interspersed with images and words.

The heart of this ongoing art project is The Magic Garden located at 1020 South Street. A small sidewalk sign invites the passerby in for a self-guided tour for only $3. A very reasonable price that allows you to literally get inside of the work, climbing stairs and exploring winding passages lined on every side with bottles, bike wheels, dolls, broken plates and ceramics, poetry and the reaccuring image of the artist himself, depicted as a four armed naked bearded man.

The seeds of the Magic Garden began to sprout in the early 1990’s, on an vacant parcel of land adjacent to Zagar’s studio. As his garden began to grow and reach its stride, it ran head-on with the realities of the recent real estate boom. The owner of the lot threatened to sell the land and demolish the Magic Garden to make way for development. The asking price was $300,000, and with the help of many, including an anonymous donor who contributed 1/3 of the cost, the money was eventually raised and the Garden’s magic preserved. So add this to your list of places to take your friends and out of town guests. It is well worth the mere $3 a peek and all proceeds go to the preservation, and of course the continuing expansion of this dreamscape.

Frisbee golf, or more accurately, disc golf is a sort of laid back cousin of the more traditional game of golf, but much of the same rules and protocol apply. The basics: the golfer needs to toss a platter of plastic towards a basket, which is placed at some distance and perhaps obscured. To reach his goal, the golfer can employ the use of a number of Frisbees; drivers, long range drivers, putters etc.

The game was developed in the 1970’s and Philadelphia is home to one the oldest and more unique disc golf courses. The course winds through Sedgley woods in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park.

When it comes to Philadelphia, you can’t avoid the historical significance of any location, especially in Fairmount Park. The wooded course winds around the ruins of an 18th Century house where Ben Franklin’s daughter, Sarah once lived. Although America’s aristocracy have moved on to greener pastures, this area has been reinvented as a unique recreational facility, which the former residents most likely could not have imagined.

Can you find the basket?

This topography can lead to some very challenging shots. In one, the golfer must drive the disc across a wide ravine and hope that the disc lands some where near the basket, obscured by trees on the other side.

Sedgely even has a rugged back nine that begins by following an old cobblestone road before taking a twisted path through the overgrowth. As you work your way through the holes, you come across an abandoned 18th century structure, a commanding view of the river, and a bird sanctuary.

The Cliffs Ruins

The structure is called The Cliffs and was built in 1753 as a country house for Philadelphia merchant Joshua Fisher. The house remained in pretty good shape until 1980’s, when it was vandalized and burned. The empty shell still stands. It is easy to get turned around. It appears that the course has slipped away only to be replaced with over growth and post industrial rubble. But keep your eyes peeled and you may find hand painted sign leading you to the next tee-off.

The next tee is this way.