Born during the year that Jarrett and Peterson made their legendary travels, I have been retracing their paths on and off for 30 years. I grew up in the same town as photographer Tom Jarrett and took up the same profession as a photographer.

As an environmental science student at Penn State, I became familiar with places like Kettle Creek and Spruce Creek and the Amish mountain country where Tom's wife grew up. Then I interviewed him in his later years for an article in the Pittsburgh Press Sunday Roto Magazine (1980).

With various friends, including Tom's grandsons, I walked the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, bicycled through Allegheny Forest, and kayaked the Clarion. With my parents, who are life-long supporters of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, I came to know many natural wonders, such as Ohiopyle and Moraine, even before they became parks.

We are recording the original book, Penn's Woods West, for an online presentation. Watch this website for more "podcasts".

Click to play audio clips of the chapters written by Edwin L. Peterson in 1957

The narrator is Dr. John W. Aupperle.