Scotts Run Lake is at the north end of French Creek State Park. We started and ended our weekly hike at the lake by taking the Horseshoe Trail which runs a wide loop through the park and connects with a dozen or more trails. It's one of my favorite parks within 90 minutes of home.
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| Scotts Run Lake |
To get his required "nose-on-trail-time" Amos the Minor Prophet, sniffer-finder and eager student in learning the ways of humans in the woods, enjoyed a long lollipop loop on the Horseshoe Trail that took him out to Geigerstown Road (the stem) and from Scotts Lake around to Hopewell Furnace and back (the candy).
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| Schuylkill National Heritage Area |
The Schuylkill River is fed by the French Creek watershed and its famously rocky wetlands and swamps and many smaller streams make hiking here a tad wet. The water table is high between the big hills and we hiked on two historic "stone roads" built to hold wagons, horses, and people above the saturated ground. We hiked bouldery hills where erosion has washed away the underlying clay and creates geological slope slumps. I was really impressed with trail crew work on these boulder pitches where hand built stone water bars and big rock steps help hikers as well as stabilize the slopes.
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| One of Southeast PA's great long distance hiking & riding trails |
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| Small quarry on the edge of Colonial road. |
Near our turn-around point at Geigerstown Road, we explored a small quarry where sandstone was removed and carried on stone boats (heavy sleds) pulled by oxen or heavy horses to make the raised road through the saturated Sixpenny Creek floodplain. I could see the remains of drainage ditches on either side of the stony path. It reminded me of a miniature Roman road with its side ditches and cambered cobble surface, though without regular road maintenance the ditches are mere depressions and the surface has been washed of its binding gravels and clay. It too has suffered slump!
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| White Coral Fungus, Clavaria fragilis |
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| Armillaria, sp. |
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| Slug nibbles and a slug poo |
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| Painted Suillus, Suillis spraguei |
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| Hydnopolyporous sp. (This one is just fun to say out loud) |
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| Bouquet of fungus |
Just a note - fall is hunter's season, so its best to wear bright colors and there is a firing range active this time of year near the Geigerstown Road crossing. Amos is a little gun shy so as we got closer he was hesitant to actually go out to the road. We turned around at the quarry.
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| Getting loopy |
Using a combination of trails, but mostly staying on the yellow-blazed Horseshoe Trail, Amos practiced all of his search commands and even tracked a mountain biker when I asked him to "find the boy." Waiting happily at the bottom of a steep boulder slump "the boy" (actually Dean the Mountain Biker) was ready with an award of cheese curl and a pull rope to give to his "rescuer." To celebrate Amos' tracking practice we hiked over to Hopewell Furnace NHS for a another treat and visit with his ranger friends there. He is a BARK Ranger at Hopewell, so he's bit of a celeb.
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| Heading back to Scotts Lake |
Hiking back from Hopewell Furnace we stopped for a rest and a long drink of water. In the stillness we listened to a pair of Barred Owls conversing with each other and we heard a loud SNORT from a nearby but hidden White-Tail Deer who obviously saw us, but we didn't see him or her.
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