During the past several CCPaPhoto meetups, one of the more common questions has been –
Where is it legal for Astronomy and Photography types allowed to group during the night?
I finally sent an email to “PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources” asking…
A couple of days later, I got the following back –
“The park manager said that basically any approved parking lot can be used at night – the Dorlan Mill lot, the west side lot, or the Chalfant Rd. lot. Just make sure that no one is parking on the grass, or blocking a gate!”
which is great news, especially with the Summer months coming up!
Woke up this morning, and there was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground…
The 5th Day of Spring… Go figure…
Got the kids on the bus and headed to the Marsh Creek Lake Dam area for maybe the last snow of the season.
In the woods, I was getting bombarded by snow, as it fell from the trees.
When I finally reached the Dam plateau, the snow was coming down hard, and it was nearly impossible to keep the front of the lens clean, so most of the shoots are looking south, with the wind at my back.
MCSP Dam Spring snow 001
MCSP Dam Spring snow 069 efex
MCSP Dam Spring snow 004
MCSP Dam Spring snow 010
MCSP Dam Spring snow hdr 04
MCSP Dam Spring snow hdr 05
MCSP Dam Spring snow hdr 01
After about an hour of wondering around, I headed home…
I parked in nearly in the same spot as I did some ten days ago, when I was exploring the northern side of the boating launch on that foggy morning.
Today, there is more activity and the temperature is finally starting to reflect that it is late December…
While gathering my gear, I saw several people walking, some dogs running, and once I was ready, I headed toward south-east, along the shoreline.
Swimming Hole 01
As I walk in the sand, I know, just to my right, there is a very well-worn path that I have walked countless times before, but today, it is difficult to even recognize the “beach” where I have been many times before.
Looking at Rental Complex (North-East)
It was one of my easier walks to the end of the blunted point, that almost points due south, where I was once again greeted with more wood pilings (Woodhenge) sticking out of the lake’s bed.
In the mouth of the Cove
From there, I started into the cove, and I knew from previous walks along the dirt path, off to might right, that I was entering a heavy vegetation area, but once again, walking the shoreline made it look so different, and I did not expect it to drop off so quickly.
Deep in the Cove Looking East
Finally, I reached the end of the cove, or at least as I was far as I was willing to go.
We woke up to a very foggy morning that had engulfed our area during the night.
With nothing pressing on my agenda, I got my kids off to school, packed my car with my photo gear, and headed off to try to capture some of this elusive weather.
Morning Fog near Boat Launch
Not knowing how long the fog would last, time was of the essence, but I also knew that I had to be careful on a day like today.
In the back of my head, I heard my inner voice, my wife and a recent conversation with Joe all going off, so I drove down to the mega-sporting goods store in Downingtown, looking for orange apparel, only to find a very limited inventory, and in only youth sizes.
Do I drive over to Exton? Or just head on out, being extremely careful?
MCSP Boat Launch
Personally, I think I looked more like a bear, carrying a tripod, but that is another conversation…
I left the store, I jumped into my car, and headed north on Creek Rd, towards the boat launch area of Marsh Creek State Park.
As I drove along road, I could see areas of fog along the Brandywine that were beginning to thin out, and I begun to wonder if this day was going to be a bust of a trip, but I continued on.
Root Squid 01
When I turned on to N. Reeds Rd., and was looking over the horse pasture, and on to the lake, there was nothing but grey-white fog, and I knew I was going to have some fun!
I parked at the main lot at the bottom of the hill, where normally, the bumper of your car to the water is may be 40 feet, but now because of the drawdown and gradual slope to the ‘underwater’ terrain, the nearest lake water is easily over 100 feet away!
As I get out of the car, and I am packing my photography vest, getting ready for my walk, I can easily overhear three guys yelling between themselves about what to do about a boat.
I could not make it all out, but what I could, sounded was rather comical, and they where definitely making the best of it.
Root Squid 02
It is hard not to be amazed at this new landscape the 8 foot drawdown has revealed, and with the shallow slope of the southern launch area, the water seemed miles away.
The fog had receded a little bit, and condensed a little into a light mist, which would accumulate into water droplets when it hits such things as your lens.
It was not until I rounded the corner of the barbecuing point, did I realized why those three gentlemen had been so excited in their earlier conversations.
The launch ramp where normally one would back their boat down into the water, was now a mixture of sand, mud and rocks, and the water was well over 100 feet away.
No easy task, and the risk of getting your vehicle stuck was rather high.
Root Squid 03
The three gentlemen had used their truck to move their boat to the grassy area next to the launch.
From there, they dragged their boat over firmer sand and mud, and finally into the water!
Talk about dedicated fishers!
I continued north of the launch area, and rounded another small little point, where I saw a series of beautiful old tree stumps that had weathered over many years of being underwater, and now the roots look more like the tentacles of an squid.
As I continued to walk along the shoreline, I was greeted with forrest present-day fossils of shapes that were once living trees.
After some time of collecting more images, I finally reached the Chalfant Rd entrance to the park and proceeded along the coastline a little bit more, until I reached a very peculiar outcropping of rocks, that just made me stop.
Bent rock formation
It was very apparent that there was a layer structure to the rocks, but there also seems to be indication that the rock has bent. How?
This does not make sense, but it will be a good conversation with my wife later on tonight.
I turned around, and started back to the car, knowing that I had allot of image processing that I needed to start on…
Update
2012-Dec-17 – In doing my normal daily reading, I ran across these following links of interest at they relate to the Marsh Creek Lake/State Park water drawdown:
I have never been to the Milford Road side of Marsh Creek before, so this is going to be very interesting.
As I entered the circle at the end of Milford Road, I saw a man standing at the trail-head dressed in orange and a gun on his shoulder.
I parked and as I got out the car, I asked the man if he had seen a lot of other people in the area, to which he said no, and then we started to chitchat.
After some time we introduced ourselves to one another, and as I read his card, I noticed that Joe Isaacs, was a drumming instructor, to which I said to him, that I had just posted earlier a video of some taiko drummers!
The two of us chatted for a little bit more than said our goodbyes, and I headed down the path to the rest of Milford Road.
Woodhenge/Pilings – South West
Crossing over a pile of rocks, I started to walk along the new shoreline, which was sandy at first, then turned darker the closer I got to the water.
One could definitely see several levels at which the water had receded.
My tripod and camera were still hanging from my neck as I walked along the beach, and slowly moved into a slightly muddier area looking at a potential shot.
In fine tuning my position, I took a half a step back and was soon sinking in mud!
Within a fraction of a second, I was thigh deep in mud, and stuck.
This was not good.
Office and Rental Complex w/pilings
I twisted myself so that I was facing where I had just come from, and I threw my tripod about 10 feet.
Somehow I had managed to keep my camera clean so far, as I tried to figure out a way to get back to safer ‘ground’.
Leaning forward, and on to my elbows, I started to slither back along my footsteps.
When I felt confident enough, I tried to stand up, which was easy enough to do, thankfully.
As I was standing there, re-assessing my situation, my cell phone began to ring.
I do not know why I answered the phone, but I did.
It was a customer wanting to schedule a meeting to drop off some photography that I had done for her.
Office and Rental Complex of point
I explained to her that I was not in front of my computer, but I could give her a call back at another time which she easily agreed to.
Wonder if my heavy breathing had something to do with her reaction.
Then it began to hit me.
The unique scent of fresh swamp mud…
Was I going to continue the day…
Looking into the shallows
I was definitely having second thoughts, but decided to trudge along for as far as I could.
If there still were any bugs that were thinking of me as a snack, I definitely had the ultimate repellent for the day, and each time I tried to find some place to wash off, I still feared sinking in again.
I walked along the various shallow inlets, and as I got further along the western coast line, it became dramatically steeper, and eventually came to a place where a newly fallen tree prevented me from going any further, so I turned around and headed back.
Returning to where I had started, I decided to continue on, heading east an into the small cove.
Looking back out
As I approached this end of the lake, on the other side I could see more pillars sticking out of the mud, along with several big rocks that dotted the mud flats in front of me.
Finally in the corner of the cove, coming out of the woods, was a small stream of clear water, which I happily stepped in to trying to clean my legs and shoes, but there was just not enough.
Looking at my watch, it is time to head back home and greet the kids, as they got off the bus and start the rest of the afternoon activities, including some good cleaning!
