Adventure: Turkey Run Falls

Rainy days. For many, they're the epitome of a lazy day, an excuse to stay inside. Those that know me well may expect that to be true for me since I loathe getting wet-- water is like my Kryptonite. But au contraire mon ami: lots of rain means that rivers and streams pick up. And if I don't pick up a paddle, I run out to some waterfalls.

To wit: Turkey Run Falls. After one initial attempt to locate this plunge near the Lower Clarion River on the outskirts of the Pa Wilds, I decided to save it for a rainy day... quite literally. The normal shallow depths of the stream didn't lend itself to picturesque water features (see the really dry creek bed in the summer to the right.) Glad I did. Several hours of a downpour allowed this riffle to swell into a some fine scenery.

Surprisingly, I even managed to coax Lavaricky, Soco, and Nelly all to don their rain coats and slosh along with me. Starting at the bridge over Turkey Run, Nelly and myself made our way down the Eastern bank while the ladies rebelled against us on the opposing side. Neither took pictures so all I have is my view. It's not much but a nice showing for a spontaneous trip on a rainy day.

So the lesson is: don't shy away from a rainy day! Instead, just use it as your advantage... an adventurer can benefit from the rain for some wicked paddling, deeper swimming holes, and-- obviously-- better looking waterfalls. Turkey Run Falls isn't much... but it's even less if the water drops to its normal levels. Good adventure to me!

Tally-ho!
-Captain Crash

Adventure: Mertz Perch

The first adventure posted in the website's new "blog" format! w00t! The new version of the website makes it really easy for me to add new adventures with pictures etc so hopefully it will now be more commonplace once things get going. While we are still adapting the old shit over to the new format, I figured I'd go ahead and throw up something new. Nothing too over the top but pretty sweet if I do say so myself.

Mertz Perch
Some times I just need to get away for a night and do a little solo camping, and I had been keeping Mertz Perch in the back of my mind for just such an occasion. The day finally came just as the leaves started to turn colors in the fall. The Perch is actually an old slag mine high above the Allegheny River slowly recovered by the forests of the towering banks between Emlenton and Foxburg. What remains are unmatched vistas of the river in both directions and just enough space for a small tent or two if you don't mind sleeping a few feet from a 100 foot drop.

I arrived at the cliff top and was greeted with clear views of the river, the fall leaves, the town of Emlenton, and some small camps below. I spent quite awhile enjoying the view with Monty, who joined me for part of the trip just for the promise of a great photo op.



I tried to scout out the cliffs for the possibility of setting some ropes for rappels or rock climbs but the rock was way too loose... the strip mining left everything completely unstable when they just stopped years and years before.



With the autumn sun waning in the sky I finally set up my small one-man camp. Pretty cozy aside from the inches from a death-drop thing. But alas, what a view from the tent, eh?



Ah, what a campsite. The lack of rock climbing and rappelling was a bit of a disappointment but oh fucking well.... I was supposed to be there to relax anyway. As incredible as this view is-- honestly it may be the best of the Allegheny River-- it's incredibly obscure. But that's just the way I like it.

Tally-ho!
-Crash