Bald Eagle State Park

September 14, 2020

Ok, a second of reality here.  Every time we leave a campsite our last stop is the dump station.  Just a simple fact of RVing. 

This is Jim taking care of business, and yes, I have had my turn dumping the RV tanks.

and then we hit the road (Pennsylvania in the background).  Today we arrived at Bald Eagle State Park, packed up a lunch after setting up the RV and went to the Skyline Overlook.

It was a lovely day, so after lunch, we took a hike.

The guide listed this as "easiest hiking"  and as you can see here right off at the start, we found that to be true so it we continued on to the 

Butterfly Trail.   Created for the conservation of butterflies.  In September, migrating monarchs are often seen drinking nectar on the abundant goldenrod.  We saw a few Monarchs like this one here.

Feeling strong we took a spur off to see Hunter Run Cove.  And yes, it passed muster so tomorrow we will kayak here.  

Two happy hikers at the end of our hike.

We then finished a drive around the park and discovered this rock at the passageway from Hunter Run Cove to Foster J Sayers Lake.

And being of an inquiring mind I sent my favorite geologist a question as to what may this be, and Caroline Seyler, outstanding geologist that she is was able to say :

" I looked up the geologic map for the area with the park: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_106291.htm

Looking at the rock units on both shores of the reservoir, there are a TON of fossils reported on the western shores! The layered shape looks sort of like it could be a fossil of an algal mat? But the possibilities include clams, bryozoans, gastropods... basically lots of stuff with shells. The rock itself looks like a limestone, and according to the map these rocks are from the Devonian period.

So, you probably were sitting on a Devonian limestone filled with a bunch of fossils that could be between 420 and 360 million years old."

    Did I not tell you she is all that and then some when it comes to rocks?  Way cool, no?  Thanks Caroline!

It makes me think of this Charlie Brown line:

 "Charlie Brown : Don't think of it as dust. Think of it as maybe the soil of some great past civilization. ... He may be carrying soil that was trod upon by Solomon, or even Nebuchudnezzar. Pig-Pen : Sort of makes you want to treat me with more respect, doesn't it?"

Tuesday 9/15/2020

   Today is a kayak day, which is limited on photos as we don't want to get the camera wet, so it sits in a waterproof bag which is tucked away but for you we made the effort to take some pictures today. Here is Hunters Run Cove.  The water was like glass in the cove today which made for an easy paddle around the cove.

Smooth running Hunters Run Cove (note the 4 birds roosted on the logs)

The cove is surrounded by trees, it's all part of the state park

Here is Jim's view.  Don't worry he is tall enough to see over me.   Jim packed away the camera and we paddled to the Foster Joseph Sayers Lake which had a little chop but nothing to complain about.  All in all we kayaked 3.5 miles floating around for two hours.  But the best part was on our way back a brown bird with a huge wingspan flew over, and just as we both said do you think that is an eagle, her partner flew by, definitely a bald eagle.  Yes, we saw a pair of eagles at Bald Eagle State Park, such a treat.

And here is the drying out of the inflatable kayak before packing it up (kayak floor, kayak, 2 seat backs and 2 life preservers).  While the kayak dried we ate lunch and looked out on the cove, it was another good day.