AN INTERESTING DRIVE.
Day 8 – It rained during the night and was 44 degrees this morning when we got up. Cold and windy. The sun peeked in and out of the clouds all day. The high today was 55 degrees later in the afternoon.
After lunch we took a drive to explore the area. Many of the roads, including the campground road, have large rocks near the road. We first drove to a road which had been mentioned in the literature for the park. The gravel road to Beartown Rocks headed quickly up into the hills. At the pull-out for the Rocks and the scenic look-out, we were amazed at what we saw. We hiked around for a bit on a path that wandered through stands of trees “littered” with huge boulders. Climbing the trail led to the top of the biggest rock and an incredible view of the countryside. The rocks were also interesting in that big trees were growing on some of them, and their roots had to grow over the outside of the rock to reach the ground.
We crossed a bridge to Belltown Road (aka River Road) and drove along the Clarion River. Soon we came to a section where many trees had fallen across the road, in the forest, and into the river. The road appeared to be recently cleared of debris. A house had major damage to its’ roof and the front porch was destroyed. Looking across the river to near where our campground was, many large trees had snapped and gone into the river, also. When we got back to the RV we looked on the computer and were surprised to see that last Saturday morning, an EF-0 tornado with up to 85 MPH winds, had touched down near the campground. Friday we had driven to check out availability at the campground. Saturday morning it was pouring rain and windy where we were, Cook Forest State Park, 16 miles away. Sunday we arrived here to camp. Close call.
Continuing along Belltown Road we entered Allegheny National Forest and checked out a boat launch. There were very nice canoe/kayak campsites on the opposite side of the road for people needing a stopover from paddling during the day. Before returning to the RV, we meandered a little into the hills and turned off on a narrow, dirt road, Dark Hollow Road. It seemed very Stephen King-ish to me, pretty but eerie and dark. On the road back to the campground we saw two young Deer, the third we’ve seen in the last couple of days. And in the campground we saw the group of Guinea Hens.
Back at the RV we grabbed a couple of chairs and sat out by the River. It was beautiful and the sound of the water rushing by was relaxing. The wind picked up and the sun went behind some clouds. It was cold, so we went inside. Later the sun came back out and I looked outside to find a man fishing in the River right in front of the RV. Nice.
Tomorrow morning we leave for a new destination; this campground is booked. I think we would’ve stayed longer if we could. The girls liked it here.
For more detailed information about Clear Creek State Park, including some history of the area, click here.