Pretty View
By Loren Anne Barnett
“This is where we make a hard left,” Don quipped over his
shoulder, part trail guide, part comedian. To my left, the ground
fell steeply a couple hundred feet into a ravine. I chuckled,
reasonably confident that my steed Dancer would not have
obeyed had I fallen for Don’s joke. Don, aboard Star, a sturdy
appaloosa, continued winding through the wooded trail in the
early spring rain, dispensing more jokes and lots of education.
It was obvious Don knew every inch of his 140 acres. Likewise,
he was well versed in the business of farming and the love of
land. Don Gummo and his wife Kim own Tioga Trail Rides in
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. During our ride, he pointed out the
bluff where the two of them were married years earlier. They
closed their dairy farm during some hard economic times and
now, in addition to their trail riding business, grow hay.
Tailing us on a third horse was Steve Smith, a CBF restoration
specialist in Pennsylvania. Steve and Don were fast friends, and
I could see why Steve was so good at his job helping farmers in
the area reduce the pollution coming from their land.
More than a
