Ever since hubby ‘inherited’ a vast quantity of fishing gear from my late mother’s late husband, he has become a man obsessed. Granted, there are stories of his fishing obsession from his childhood, but that desire has never manifested itself during our marriage and we have been married a long, long time.
But what good is fishing equipment without a place or two or ten to drop your line in. Hubby has some very fond memories of Mill Creek, just off the Allegheny River, a place where his parents trekked with the family on Sunday afternoons. I had never been and was more than willing to make the short trip to check out the potential of the trout stream. (The creek is stocked early every April by the state fish and game commission.)
So Sunday morning, a week ago, we headed north. After crossing the river at Emlenton, we found and followed Dotter Road, which quickly degraded from paved to gravel as we headed down, down the hill toward the river. After passing the ‘No Winter Maintenance’ sign, I began to wonder if the bears were out of hibernation yet.
“Are you SURE this is the way?” I queried while bracing myself as the truck lumbered over the washboard ruts of the narrowing ‘road’ we were following.
“Yep.”
“Ok.” Being born and bread in rural western PA, and living halfway to nowhere for most of that time, I knew we were headed to nowhere, but I also knew nowhere can be quite interesting. Still wasn’t really sure about the bears though.
Finally we reached the bottom of the hill and found a pull-off to park the truck. Before us lay a lovely scene of woods, stone-strewn creek and three bridges. One of the bridges was for automobile traffic, the other two old railroad bridges, no longer used.
Deciding that the best place to start would be at the river, we headed in that direction, crossing over the top of the oldest railroad bridge. Happily enough, I discovered that the railroad ‘track’ had been converted by ‘Rails to Trails’ and a nicely paved path lay on top of the second railroad bridge. The Allegheny had a beautiful greenish hue to the water where the mouth of the creek emptied into the river.
Across the water, remnants of snow still littered the riverbanks.
While we were standing along the river and admiring the view, two joggers jaunted passed, waving hello. That surprised me somewhat, as we were definitely far from most anything. Shortly afterward, a couple walked up the road, inquiring whether we had seen any eagles yet, and after we replied no, he assured us that the birds were always about ‘down here.’ A pair of bikers appeared at the visible end of the path and shortly after, a pair of pickups passed on the road. Everyone we passed waved and mouthed ‘hello’, to which we returned the same. It seemed that this nowhere wilderness was a popular spot and I was feeling better about the bears.
With a last look at the river, we started walking back to the creek. This time we walked the ‘road’, which snaked about the ‘hill’ to the west.
Scattered about the hillside were outcropping of the rocks that make up the core of this land.
Between the two old railroad bridges was an ancient oak with an equally old sycamore at its side. The sycamore was hollow at the base and the oak covered with moss and lichen.
The older railroad bridge framed the automobile bridge perfectly.
Here is the view of the bridges from the other side of the car bridge. All three bridges are visible. Looking through the older railroad bridge, the diagonal of the bridge that carries the rails to trails can just be made out.
The remnants of a small foundation lay along the creek, covered in moss, the ferns that adorn it in the summer just beginning to shake away their winter’s rest.
From there we started the trek up the creek, each scene more enchanting and enchanted than the last.
We came across a small bend in the creek that harbored a still pool fringed on one side by cascading water.
A tiny overhang sheltered a half-melted icicle.
A solitary black rock spouted orange lichen while all its neighbors wore green.
Water bugs, which we call skippers, skimmed the water of the pool. What I found more interesting was the pearl-like balls that adorned the underlying rocks. I don’t think they were bubbles.
Here are the remains of what was to an old mill, which is maybe why the name of the place is Mill Creek.
More enchantingly enchanted scenes presented themselves.
We reached a cliff on the side of the creek we were following and to continue, the creek would have to be crossed. Not being that ambitious after climbing on and around rocks and boulders for the past few hours, we rested along the creek bank on a bed of moss and contemplated the fishing possibilities of what we had seen.
The creek was low, no doubt about that. March has been a very dry month this year. But in order to support the amazing amount of moss and lichen that adorn every surface along the creek bed, it must normally run much higher and faster, throwing plenty of mist into the air. Western PA is wet but we don’t get enough rainfall to sustain that luxurious, thick carpet of moss. The small pools we had come across would have no problem supporting a few trout if the water was a little deeper.
We chose to take the path through the woods back to the truck rather than follow the creek again. Time to find the way to Foxburg and the restaurant along the river that is our late afternoon lunch stop.
After deciding to keep following the ‘road’ rather than turning around, I knew it was a bad decision when I saw the first 270 degree bend. This narrow, gravel road was going to switchback up the side of the ‘hill’ and I’m not fond of heights. Sure enough, soon I was staring out at the tops of very large pines while the truck bucked its way up steep inclines.
Eventually the top of the hill was reached but my feeling of unease continued. The road was still gravel and narrow. After passing a sheep farm and then a pig farm, I turned to hubby and stated, “If banjos start playing, it’s everyone for themselves.” He just looked at me.
Thankfully, electric poles popped up along the road and gravel gave way to pavement. Soon after the road became wide enough for a double yellow line to embellish the middle, a true marker of civilization sat on the right side of the pavement ~ a stop sign! The second stop sign was situated in a town that was on the map and it turned out we weren’t that far off course. We arrived at the restaurant within twenty minutes and was treated to a very good meal while watching the river flow by.
poking through the leaf litter.
The cloud bank waited until sunset to move into our area.
The northern side of the sunset.
I can't believe how fast spring is making itself felt.
Back for another year. He's guarding 'hih' compost pile from all others.
The ground was dry enough for a quick tiller run-through of the corn patch. This robin is taking advantage of the turned soil.
They found the thistle feeder I have out already.
Sunny, west breeze, 34°F/1°C
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Shore, all you need is a mint julep or sweet iced tea in your hand to make the scene complete. Nice tribute to Harry.
wxgeek, there's something for everyone here. Do you like urban, suburban or rural? The city of Pittsburgh is an eclectic mish-mash of neighborhoods, each with their own character and reputations, good and not-so-good. The suburbs outside the city are nice. Cranberry to the North, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park, Peters Township to the South. Very nice tudor homes on well manicured lawns in quiet neighborhoods. There's rural and very rural. So lots to think about.
Yeah JD, the idea of moving has me persnickity. The place where I'd put the container tomatoes are piled with discarded roofing shingles. The landlord decided to replace the roof before the appraisal and he's been at it for 5 days now. The birds aren't coming around either with all the racket.
I'm still at the same job. My hours were reinstated after some layoffs. I'd still like to get out of acute hospital care and work at a health department clinic. Just waiting for them to call me up.
BTW, you look really comfortable sitting there. ;}
Hi pittsnurse. Yes, a glorious taste of summer for the past couple of days! I've picked up a bit of color even with spf30 and a new garden hat. It's fabulous!
The heat has put everything into overdrive here. The apple blossoms have just appeared overnight and now most of the trees are in full bloom. I'm looking for the lilac to start opening any day now. On the downside, the daffodils shriveled and turned brown way too quickly, even the late ones. Oh well, this cooler weather moving in will slow it all down so I can appreciate it for more than a day or two.
Truly sorry about your lack of garden this year. Then again, there's usually a lot of people looking to pawn off fresh produce in season, so... befriend a gardener!
Hi wxgeek. Hmmmm... pittsnurse is probably more versed in the different neighborhood flavors than I am. Although I will say that if I had to live in the city, I would chose around Carson St. in the south side. It seems that there is always something interesting going on there. Of course the highland park area is really nice too.
This past weekend was excetionally hot for April. The dandelions, violets, apples and crabapples are in full bloom with the lilacs not far behind. Oh, I also spotted a male oriole this evening for the first time. Cool! The hummers' arrival can't be too far away. Time to get the nectar feeders out!
My little hummers were great this morning just zipping and zagging through the air vying for the feeders and honey suckle flowers. Finally got some halfway decent hummingbird in flight pictures.
My honey suckle vine is an unruly mass of greenery and long shoots sticking out all over. Can't shape it because some mockingbirds are nesting inside it and I don't want to disturb them.
The strange thing is that the hummers also seem to prefer the oriole feeder over the smaller feeders. Whatever makes them happy, I suppose.
The only thing that bothers me is that the hummers really didn't start hanging around last year until the orioles left. I think I'm going to split up the three feeders I have and keep them much farther apart. We'll see how that goes.
Hey calpoppy. We just get one type, Baltimore orioles. But I know what you mean about keeping the feeders stocked. They eat a lot!
The nights are geting warmer here too. But our last frost date is still the end of may. I think I'm going to push it a bit with a container planting and some walls-o-water. I purchased some a few years ago and have never used them. This could be the time to dust them off and see if they help!
So nice to see you again.
First, I love this line in your blog, and living halfway to nowhere for most of that time, I knew we were headed to nowhere, but I also knew nowhere can be quite interesting. The pictures are great as although the trees look cold, it looks like they are about to change to spring-wear. You know I am not a mountain or hills fan, EXCEPT when I can be near moving water over rocks so I loved those pictures too. It is good to see Jalapeno Harry again and the finch return. Is there still a little snow in deck view? Can't wait to see that garden grow. I think my favorite, though, is that budding bush. They are pretty when they are full, but there is just something magical about the time in between. (That's true for music and dance and writing, it is the space between notes and steps and words that cause art.)
September 10th - Steelers vs. Titan
but tis a long way off
let us enjoy the summer....
hope all is well
Hi huri. It is so good to hear from you again. Thanks! I really enjoyed the trip to nowhere! But there isn't any snow left here ~ this is just an old blog. I've been meaning on getting a new one up, but I keep running out of time.
This weekend hubby is talking about heading out for trout fishing again, to one of the gorges along Slippery Rock creek. I don't know if the fish will be biting with the rain we've been getting, the creek should be running high. But it will be an excellent photo opportunity and I'm feeling like it's time to get some climbing and hiking in. It's soooo green here, the scenery should be stupendous!
Hi Emmy. Did you hear about the Ravens refusing to take the first nighttime home game at Pittsburgh? They wanted primetime at home, not on the road. Boy, you can take a raven out of Cleveland but you sure can't take Cleveland out of the Ravens!
It is cloudy with off and on rain here. Humid. And, yes, I think there's supposed to be the chance of showers for the next ten days here too. We'll see. Yesterday and today were to be showery and nothing this far north.
Hey Bliz. It's green, green and greener here! Everything is growing well, especially the grass, the birds are singing and the rabbits are cavorting. I've gotten glimpses of the newest groundhog prodigies this weekend. They better decide to hightail it to the woods or it's going to all out war! LOL.
The comment about the groundhogs reminds me - I was walking the bank along Moon Lake when I suddenly realized it was really, really squishy. It wasn't soggy, like ground gets after a lot of rain, it felt like I was walking on a sponge - you could tell that the ground wasn't solid at all. It went on and on like that, along the road and down the bank as far as I was willing to walk.
It turns out that it was moles, tunneling around and turning the ground in to the equivalent of Swiss cheese. I've never experienced anything like that in my life. Very interesting.
My cactus finally bloomed today - I may try and wait to put all the interesting cacti together in one blog, or I may just throw the photos of the blooms out there. They are just gorgeous. It'll be interesting to see if the blooms hold on tomorrow - I may have mentioned here (or not) that last year it had one bloom, that lasted only one day.
Everything is pretty much sweetness and light around here. Dixie's happy again, Mom is happy for the time being, and I got my patio cleaned off today, so it's all good. I've been cleaning out photo files and organizing stuff from the trip all afternoon - I didn't realize what a mess the computer had gotten to. When I was just taking a few pics here and there organization wasn't' so important. Now, with so much I can't keep everything in my head (What DID I decide to name that photo? and etc.) I need a s*y*s*t*e*m. Don't you know.
I also need to use you as my good example and get cracking to take off a few lbs. I'm a stress eater, and this hoopla with mama left me pretty stressed. Now that we're back to what passes for normal, it's a good time to reverse course.
I know what you mean about a system. I have a half-baked system which is just not adequate for the number of photos I have. It relies too much on my memory. HA! That's funny.
I have been doing pretty good with the I'm-getting-back-into-shape-if-it-kills-me resolution. Speaking of which, tomorrow is KJ day. I am sooo glad when that class is over and I haven't embarrassed myself too badly. So I'd better head upstairs ~ I have to up by 6 to be out of the door by 8:30. (I am so not a morning person!)
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