Tohickon Valley Park, 3/9-11/2007

I arrived at Tohickon Valley Park late Friday evening to find Theresa, David, Janice and Suzanne already settled in the cabin playing a game of UNO. Myra, probably tired from the long day, was already asleep. Die-hard camper that he is, David hiked up to the campground to sleep in his tent. Katie arrived by bus the next day, where she was given a lift to the cabin. That morning, I drove Theresa and Janice to the High Rocks lookout in Ralph Stover State Park to take in the view of Tohickon Creek, and soaring hawks. After returning to the cabin, David, Myra, Katie and I hiked a section of the High Rocks Trail, Janice walked down to Point Pleasant, Theresa and Suzanne took a drive to New Hope and later Katie took an ambitious run (in my estimation) up along River Rd. We all met back at the cabin later and with Suzanne willing to drive, Theresa, David, Myra and I eventually found our way to Ringing Rocks County Park. I thought it was interesting that some of the rocks in a small "boulder field" would ring if tapped with a hammer. (Apparently, not everyone felt the same as I.) We also walked a short distance to see a mostly frozen waterfall. Not all were impressed, but I was satisfied to offer something different this year. After our somewhat successful excursion, I drove Theresa, Janice and Suzanne down to New Hope Saturday night for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, the rest made dinner at the cabin, or in David’s case, his campsite. The next morning we all packed up and cleaned the cabin, as well as taking various hikes, walks and drives. Theresa, Janice and I took a walk down to Point Pleasant. While walking down Cafferty Road, we toured the local cemetery, where several Stovers (a local family for many generations) are buried. There was also a grave for a local man who died in a car accident the year before - on the same road we were walking. His headstone was very unique; it was fashioned by friends from stone local to the area. A man happened by who was a friend of the deceased, and told us the tale. The weather turned mild by Saturday afternoon, allowing for some of the ice to melt, which made for an enjoyable weekend. We were lucky that I was not able to reserve for the following weekend as intended (for the bi-annual Tohickon Creek water-release), because the late season snowstorm would probably have hindered our plans somewhat.

Ken