Hillside Diner #14952

The Story

High on the side of a Pennsylvania mountain, high above the narrow valley floor, horses graze easily and contentedly across green summer grass. At this stable and farm, most of the flat valley land is put into hay. The horses get the steep slopes for their pastures to graze.

Of course, it was a bit of an uphill hike to get where they were. The steepness is surprising. But the view from this pasture is magnificent and downright beautiful, so it’s worth doing. I don’t think horses care much about scenery, but this high pasture view is worth the walk for any creature with legs.

To land in some tranquility, someday I may take a lunch up there and join them some summer day from that high lookout. Simply because this imaginary Hillside Diner is a great place to pull up your imaginary seat.

Beyond the horses, another higher mountain covered in woods lies in the distance. These ridges with valleys between repeat at an angle across half the state. In the east, the valleys are 30 miles wide or more and become more narrow moving westward. Furthest west, the last valley is only three miles wide at Altoona that lies there. Sure enough, this center portion of Pennsylvania is known geologically as the ridge and valley system. And it is very scenic throughout.

On a different summer day, here’s another view of this slanting green grass pasture called Heavens Above #14587. In that picture, you can see how steep it really is up there! The palomino and the black horse have shared this pasture for a while; other newcomers were added as time went on.

Location: near Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania. Picture and story © Andrew Dierks