TRAVEL DAY: HOWARD TOWNSHIP TO CLARKSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
Day 4 – 7:30 a.m. this morning, 52 degrees & very foggy. No bike ride for us. It was fairly cool and wet this morning with heavy fog. Rob packed up the tent in preparation for our departure from this campground. Check-in at the next campground isn’t until after 3 p.m. Bald Eagle State Park became busy and loud. The timing of our stay worked out perfectly, and happily, we know we have reservations at Cook Forest State Park to get us through the weekend.
We departed Bald Eagle at 1:20 p.m. after dumping tanks. Heading south on PA-150, we made no stops for the entire trip. We took I-80 west (big truck time) to PA-36 north. The fall colors changed from muted to a bit brighter once we changed to the higher elevations, spending much of our time on I-80 climbing mountains. (The RV was happy that we left ½ our liquor at home.)
We headed north on PA-36 on a two-lane highway going by small towns and farmland as we climbed higher. The forest got denser and the tree trunks wider; some old-growth forest here. We arrived at Cook Forest State Park at 3:10 p.m. It was 75 degrees and partly cloudy. We’d never been here before, a new adventure.
The campsites were heavily wooded with magnificent tall, old trees. The campsites were placed differently than we’d encountered before at other campgrounds. Rather than lining up campsites in a row, the sites were placed rather haphazardly within the trees so as to disturb them as little as possible. Very nice idea! This led us to our campsite, #26, no hook-ups, off somewhat by itself and down a hill a little within a stand of trees. The ground was muddy. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. Hmmm. Let’s hope it doesn’t get too muddy! But it’s not like we have much of a choice – the campground is virtually full for the weekend, like most campgrounds, and we took our chances making reservations without first seeing the site. Otherwise, it’s a wonderful campsite, private like we wanted, surrounded by great, tall trees. It took us almost an hour to begin setting up camp. Filling the fresh water tank was very slow due to low pressure from the spigot. We put out our new doormat at the entry to the RV. THANK YOU TO CAROL & TED!!! We love it!
Our first impression of Cook Forest State Park was “WOW, look at these trees!” Upon reading the literature from the entry station this evening, we saw there’s much to do here. Hiking trails through old-growth forest, kayaking on the Clarion River, and when checking the weather, two days of rain. Bummers. We also discovered another State Park. Smaller and even more remote, along the Clarion River and not too far from here, we checked and found that Clear Creek State Park was a continuation of this forested environment but far enough “out there” that we might be able to get a campsite through Sunday along the River. Tomorrow, rain or shine, we plan to start the day with a trip to Clear Creek, to check out the options if it gets too muddy here.