2019 04 28 - 05 07 Confluence PA, Ohiopyle State Park and Fallingwater

Outflow Camping Area, Confluence, Pennsylvania - 28 April 2019
  Youghiogheny Dam, Confluence, Pennsylvania - 29 April 2019

Another Army Corps of Engineers dam and campground authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938, one of 16 flood damage reduction projects in the Pittsburgh District. Since completion in 1943, the Youghiogheny Lake has prevented flood damage estimated to be in excess of $1.59 billion. The lake has the capacity to store the equivalent run-off of 21 inches of precipitation from its 434 square mile watershed.

Even under the tree canopy we discovered beautiful trillium flowers blooming and new fern fiddleheads pushing through the fallen debris. Should have been wearing my boots. 

Relaxing at camp. Anyone know why dogs insist on laying out on the gravel even when the mat is in the sun? The underpass for the bike trail leading to our next adventure. 

Ohiopyle State Park, Rails-to-Trails Bike Path - 1 May 2019

Smooth and level with babbling, gurgling streams running down the hills toward the Youghiogheny River, the bike trail between Confluence and Ohiopyle State Park is about eleven miles. It is a portion of the Great Allegheny Passage beginning in Cumberland, Maryland and traveling almost 150 miles to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mostly shaded and following the river north to Pittsburgh. 

In Ohiopyle State Park the Youghiogheny River cuts two gorges, through Laurel Hill (PA's deepest water gap) and Chestnut Ridge. Many spots were dotted with pretty wildflowers including columbine. Besides biking and hiking along the trail, the river offers kayaking, canoeing and rafting through several whitewater rapids.  

Local artists' works cover the bridge abutments along the bike path. After several days of rain and the spring release of trout, hip waders and fly-fishing rods are the order of the day from the dam's hydroelectric plant downstream to the confluence of the Youghiogheny River and Laurel Hill Creek. The hydroelectric plant also releases additional water after heavy rains to regulate the lake's water lever, alleviate pollution during low water, improve the quality of water entering the river from towns, industries and coal mine drainage and improves the navigability of the adjoining rivers for barge traffic. This confluence was also the site of Colonel George Washington's first and only withdrawal from battle when his Indian scouts advised him of the strength of French troops north of here outnumbering him in 1754 at the beginning of the French and Indian War.  

Fallingwater, Bear Run, Pennsylvania - 6 May 2019

Reknowned American architect, Frank Llyod Wright, was commissioned by the Kaufmann family to build their summer home south of Pittsburgh. Besides running the family owned department store, the patriarch, Edgar was active in New Deal public works projects for Pittsburgh in the 1930s. His interst in Frank Lloyd Wright's propsals for these projects eventually led to corresondence with Wright about several civic projects prior to commissioning Fallingwater. Kaufmann also enjoyed the outdoors, especially horseback riding, fishing and hiking. His wife, Liliane reinvented the entire 11th floor of the store to recall the most elegant style of fashion shops of Paris. She too was an avid outdoors enthusiast. Her attention to detail brough elegance to their mountain retreat.   

The genius of its design was to physically and spiritually embrace the natural world captured in the daring and innovative architecture set among the forest landscape. The Kaufmanns' were expecting a residence placed across from the falls where they could be enjoyed from afar. Their love for the waterfalls inspired the architect to imagine a home cantilevered directly over the falls where the family would live in the midst of nature. 

Echoing a natural pattern established by its neighboring rock ledges, Wright positioned the house over the falls in a stacked group of cantilevered concrete "trays," each anchored to a central stome chimney mass of locally quarried sandstone.

The famous stairs to the river. Generally, the water flow is well below the landing but spring can see a rise up several steps. During one extreme rain the water rose above the stairs and into the living room. The tables and chairs were set on top of the couches which are cantilevered from the walls and saved from the flood waters.  

The second and third floors are bedrooms for the family members. Expansive windows and access to private terraces practically bring the outdoors inside.

Normally, the stream provides enough water to have four small rivulets cascading over the rocks. The last three days in southwest Pennsylvania have been rain filled so the engorged stream rages past the house.