The Good, the Bad, the UGLY - French Creek at ST Peters Village

[@WaltInPA]

I was thinking about taking the trip out to St Peters Villiage over the weekend (I haven't been there in years) and I stumbled onto your video. You did a great job of showcasing the scenery - I'm fond of rushing water and boulders myself. Thanks for sharing

[@WALTERZOLNA]

Thanks for commenting and watching. The scenery should be beautiful this time of year!

[@careykucharik6362]

I’m from this area and We used to go ‘climb the rocks’ on Sundays after church in the late 70’s early 80’s. It is such a beautiful spot. I agree with you on the graffiti. It’s so unnecessary - let the scenery speak for itself. I just listened to you on Quite Frankly and look forward to checking out more of your videos.

[@WALTERZOLNA]

I will never understand what possesses people to be so ignorant...

[@ericneiman5556]

Turkey vultures nest in the rocks on the hill there. It is an old quarry of black granite . It was formed by glacier activity of the last ice age

[@openedto]

I lived there for 6 years about 25 years ago. There's nothing ugly about that place. That and French Creek Park are my two favorite places on earth. I live in Texas now and every time I go back to Pennsylvania I go down the turnpike and get off at Morgantown and go right to St Peters. Every time I go there I think it was all real. It's fantastic. You have to understand about the graffiti and stuff I actually went to high school down the road at Owen J roberts. And St Peters was always a hangout I'm talking about I was in high school in the 70s. And a lot of people partied out there it was basically like the hippie hollow of that area of pennsylvania. So there's a lot behind it. You can walk right out of St Peter's itself on the old train tracks and walk all the way to French Creek Park if you get onto horseshoe trail this is Miles away. Horseshoe trail goes all the way from dauphin Pennsylvania in the St Anthony's wilderness all the way to malvern. I guarantee you for the most part the only place you'll see any graffiti is in St Peters area. You might smell a little weed sometimes. the one thing most troubling for the kids that go out there and anybody for that matter is the park rangers from that entire region and French Creek etc. They like to go and sit along the road with their binoculars and watch for drug use so do the state cops. So you have to be careful. That's just my take on it from living there so long it's wonderful. 🌲💚

[@WALTERZOLNA]

I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to leave such a detailed comment explaining your perspective and a bit of context for the area. I will never ever come around to the idea that graffiti and vandalism - in public natural areas- is acceptable behavior, let alone cool or interesting. I think its the stupidest, laziest, ignorant, base, reprehensible behavior - really humanity at is dumbest. I will never understand the logic that it is ok. I will ask you the same question I have said to others. Why do these people never ever tag, spray paint graffiti there own property? They have every right to spray their own houses, fences, cars, property yet they never do. Its the absolute height of ignorance and let's be clear -it's an utterly SELFISH behavior to think that in one fleeting moment you have the right to permanently alter the landscape for your personal pleasure and ruin it for EVERONE else.

[@misterm5325]

I was just up there for the first time in several years. I saw they have a sign saying no paint cans as you enter the woods. That'll take care of it. No more graffiti. Problem solved! 😆

[@WALTERZOLNA]

Yup that should fix things right up, lol. It really is a shame because that area has such a natural beauty, and that type of river way with the boulders and rushing water is very unique to the region. The graffiti really is out of control, I seriously don't understand what is wrong with these people.

[@misterm5325]

@@WALTERZOLNA Yeah you go out into the woods to get away from things like that and that does cheapen the experience.

[@ericneiman5556]

Lol. One man's graffiti is another man's art. It's been going on there since before you were a thought.

[@WALTERZOLNA]

@ Eric Neiman You are correct in both of your conclusions here. My personal opinion is that graffiti, when applied in any setting, is hideous, short sighted, and ignorant. I do think that individuals should absolutely be permitted to spray paint there own property however. If one would like to paint there own house, or car, or property, etc. that is their right. Additionally, profanity, lewd drawings, and scribbles are hard to justify as art which was a good portion of what I observed here. It's very likely that most of the "artists" are young individuals, and I suspect most will regret their decisions later in life. But again this is my opinion, and others will surely disagree. Thank you for taking the time to comment good luck in your travels!

[@daniel_k_music]

Personally I think the graffiti adds to the place. I know many people go there solely to see the graffiti. I don't know if I would be interested in going there if the graffiti wasn't there.

[@WALTERZOLNA]

I respect your opinion on the topic, and I am sure many others will agree with you. However, I could not more strongly disagree. When a person leaves a marking on an object like a rock for example- that rock is millions of years old- and in a couple of seconds it is fundamentally altered. It doesn't belong to that one person. I mean, would it be cool to chop down a tree that's a thousand years old just for the thrill of watching it fall for a couple seconds? Strikes me as the ultimate in human arrogance and ignorance. But that's just my opinion. Thankyou for watching and commenting Pasta Dan.

[@daniel_k_music]

@@WALTERZOLNA I'm not trying to attack your stance or argument, but technically nearly everything mankind does fundamentally alters something natural. Neighborhoods, buildings, and roads being built are always going to permanently change geological features, and many of the things being built are completely useless. It happens with nearly every single object humankind has touched or used to create something. This doesn't necessarily have much to do with anything you said, but now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I'm split on how I view St Peter's Village between the artistic and self expression value, and the environmental value. The place is unique in the sense that the rocks are decorated (or vandalized) in a natural environment rather than in an already impacted environment like an overpass or an abandoned building, and I think that's very interesting and unique. As far as the environmental factors go, I don't think painting the rocks does much harm to the environment as long as the artist is clean and careful and makes sure the paint dries quickly so that it will not interfere with wildlife, but I hate it when the trees are painted because I'm pretty sure toxins in some paints can severely harm them.

[@daniel_k_music]

@@WALTERZOLNA I must say though, I'm impressed at how much footage you were able to gather without graffiti showing in it because of just how much there really is