Feeling cooped up?
Jack Hughes
Virginia bluebells spotted in Cedar Creek Park in Rostraver Township.
Jack Hughes
With the cool weather of the past few weeks and the forecast for more cool and damp weather in the next week or so, this past Monday presented a nice opportunity to get outside for a bit of air and some exercise. You may recall we finally had a sunny day on Monday, and although temperatures were only in the low 50s, the winds finally subsided so we decided on a wildflower hike, a chance to get out and enjoy the thrill of seeing some great spring wildflowers.
My wife and I both share the love of wildflowers. Diane was chairman of the Wildflower and Native Plantings Committee for a number of years for the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and I learned so much form her activities and shared walks in the woods. Nearby Ohiopyle State Park has so much to offer and the joy is that every few days, new wildflowers are emerging as the earlier ones reach their peak of color and glory and begin to fade.
Another favorite wildflower viewing area is in Cedar Creek Park in Rostraver Township just a short drive north of Uniontown. The park has a beautiful gorge that is filled with wildflowers and is also adjacent to the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail. Flowing through the gorge is Cedar Creek with its rushing spring waters giving a sense of direction to this often noisy and chaotic world. The shady side of the valley is filled with white and red trillium, while the bottom area has some pockets of the blue and white blue-eyed Mary which we do not find in many places. The real treasure and the reason we make our annual visit to Cedar Creek are the hillsides covered with our favorite wildflower, Virginia bluebells. From a distance they are hardly visible, but up close Bluebells dominate entire hillsides and provide such a sense of peace and calm with their beauty. They, like the rest of the spring wildflowers, only last a few weeks and thrive in moist woodlands and floodplains at the edge of our forests.
Social distancing was not a problem since only a few others were out on the trail, although the nearby bike trail did have a few more people, but once again, it being a weekday, the park was not in any way crowded. About a mile up the wildflower trail there is a granite table with information on the Cedar Creek gorge and its early settlers. In 1893, the Greenwood family had a homestead in the area and operated a saw mill. The table was presented by the descendants of the family in 2008.
We finished up our hike and enjoyed the small picnic lunch we brought along for the occasion. Food just seems to taste so much better when it is shared and eaten outdoors. The back of our vehicle served as a picnic table and the food was yummy.
Curious about the difference between small streams of water, we learned that you can step over a brook, jump over a creek, wade across a stream and swim across a river. With temperatures in the low 50s and water temps even colder, we decided to stay out of the water, perhaps in the summer a dip would be nice. An hour later we arrived back in the mountains, just in time for a nap.
Happy spring!