The last Saturday in January found Jonny Cool, G-Force, Bubba Griz, and the Ice Man headed to camp in the Sproul State Forest via a round trip to Clearfield County.
A stop in Curwensville featured the recently erected monument (2005) to the 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Civil War Regiment better known as “Bucktails”.
“From these rugged regions
Colonel Edward A. Irvin
came the men
who preserved the nation,
for Liberty loves to linger
in the mountains,
and Patriotism
hangs upon her hills.”
On the way from Curwensville to camp, a side trip down a dirt road running parallel between the West Branch of the Susquehanna and a set of railroad tracks, garnered a visit to Miller’s Landing, consisting of the foundation of an old hotel and a ring rock used to moor rafts that were hauling timber during the late 1800s.
A quick stop at a railroad tunnel built in 1901 showed the careful design of the tunnel makers, as they allowed notches for one trapped in the tunnel to seek refuge while a train roars by on the tracks.
Almost to camp, a badly shot up sign informed us we were crossing a one lane bridge; in this case the bridge was over Beech Creek at the ghost town of Kato. Beech Creek has long been badly damaged by mine run-off as indicated by the orange hue of its bed. An effort to restore the Beech Creek Watershed is underway: beechcreekwatershed.com
Arriving at camp with only a few hours of daylight left meant it was time to squeeze in as much target shooting as possible before the sunset.
