Slippery Rock Creek

It was a beautiful weekend here, with temps in the low 60's and mostly blue skies.  The kind of weekend where you look out the window and wish you were out there on your bike.  Or in your boat.

But I'm grounded for a while to heal, so instead me and King Dave went for a little drive over to one of my favorite spots in western Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock Creek.  Over the last 20 years I've spent a LOT of time on this creek, paddling my kayak on the whitewater there.  The heart of the whitewater section is McConnells Mill State Park, where the creek enters a five mile long gorge.

Here's a picture of me surfing down there a couple of years ago.

But like I said, it's healing time now - no paddling.  My head is pretty much hurting all the time still, and the pain meds are too strong to use when you're out and about.  So we headed up to Cleland Rock, a "scenic vista" that's a bit away from the main part of the park, and is usually mostly empty.  There is a nice view down into the lower Gorge, with the fall colors showing across the valley sides.  But what I found interesting was the rock itself - and that's the Picture of the Day.

Even though it was only a short drive, and only lasted a couple of hours, it was good to get out in the air.  I have two months ahead where I won't be able to do much, so I'd better get used to it.  Maybe next weekend I'll be able to get in a little hike or something, or even go to supervise trail work.  Have to keep looking forward and have a positive outlook.

Kenny and I went out for a short walk on the new trail we're building over at North Road Nature Preserve yesterday morning.  The deer over there are using the new trail so much they're wearing in muddy spots.  Here's yesterday's Picture of the Day, showing Kenny's hand next to one of the bigger prints.