May 21 Newsletter - Keystone Waterfalls
May 16, 2021
Had the opportunity recently to travel through western Pennsylvania. Lots of hills/mountains to be seen there. And where’s there’s hills/mountains there’s the potential for waterfalls. The first night I stayed in Slippery Rock. Neat name, quaint town. They have a university there. Of course it’s called Slippery Rock University, more affectionately called “The Rock”. The evening I arrived I went looking for two falls, Freedom Falls and Potter’s Falls. They are both about 30 miles north of Slippery Rock near Kennerdell.
Freedom Falls first. Kind of an interesting place to find, but it actually was in my onboard navigator. The directions include such things as “park just beyond the big boulder” and “follow the sound of the falls”. I was waiting to read something like “when you get to the fork in the road, take it” a la Yogi Berra.
While it is only 20 ft. or so high it is unique because it’s about twice as wide. AND it has two different aspects to it. On the left side the falls cascade down several levels to the creek below. On the right side it drops the 20 feet directly to the creek. Makes for an interesting sight. In addition the different modes of falling create a unique sound with some aspect of rushing water (cascade) and the heavy splash created by the drop.
I was there on a Monday evening so I had the place to myself. The peacefulness was soooo relaxing. I had to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the moment. Tough to do with all those potential photos right in front of you. Next to Potter’s Falls Not nearly so easy to find. Not in the navigator and not as close to the road as Freedom Falls. In fact when I got in the vicinity all I could see is signs reading No Trespassing. Not wanting to get a load of buckshot in my backside, I decided to pass on Potter’s Falls.
Next to Potter’s Falls Not nearly so easy to find. Not in the navigator and not as close to the road as Freedom Falls. In fact when I got in the vicinity all I could see is signs reading No Trespassing. Not wanting to get a load of buckshot in my backside, I decided to pass on Potter’s Falls. It happens that this Monday night was a super moon.
I was kind of excited to potentially take photos of it. Via Google Maps I was able to find a bridge in Kennerdell that might be able to frame the moon as it rose in the southeast. Since I didn’t spend any time at Potter’s Falls I got the bridge in plenty of time. Using my photography apps, Photographer’s Ephemeris and Photopills I was able to determine just where the moon ought to rise. So I climbed down the river bank and jumped from rock to rock to get the best location without getting wet (at least not too wet).
When I found where the moon ought rise, it turned out that the highest mountain in the area was right in the middle of it. By the time I could see the moon, it wouldn’t have been considered anything except a nice full moon. With that in mind and just a little sunlight left, I decided to pack it in and climb the river bank while I could still see.
While I was a little disappointed by striking out at Potter’s Falls and the super moon, I was really glad to get the photos at Freedom Falls. And tomorrow is another day of photo opportunities.
Tuesday morning I checked out of the motel and bade Slippery Rock farewell. On to Springfield Falls, at least that’s what I first found it called on the internet. There was little information or directions until I found one post that said it was also called Leesburg Falls. That made all the difference. Now the directions were clear, distinct and easy to follow. The reward was ample as this was another wide waterfall. The green colors of early spring were very eye catching.
I had an opportunity for a second waterfall, Hell’s Hollow Waterfall. Directions were sketchy. Parking almost nonexistent. Again the navigator failed me. When I got to the area, I pulled off in the only spot big enough for my truck. The directions said the path was wide. Is that 3 feet or 10 feet. I found one a couple of feet wide and followed it for a while. Looked like it paralleled the road and wasn’t leading back into the woods where the falls would be. So I backtracked a ways and found a smaller but defined trail leading away from the road. This meandered for a couple of miles. I stopped to take stock of where I was and couldn’t hear any falls, so I knew I was no where near it. As I didn’t see any other trails and I still had a six hour drive ahead of me, I decided to follow the trail back and get on the road. Missed out on Hell’s Hollow Falls. Maybe next time.
On the way home from the family affair, I had my sister-in-law, Sally, with me. We stopped at Cucumber Falls about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. What’s a photoshoot without a little adversity. It was raining fairly hard, UNTIL we got close. I said to Sal, “I think it’s stopping just for us”. More on that later.
Cucumber Falls is in Ohiopyle State Park. The roads were pretty good and well marked UNTIL we got close. We did come to that fork in the road. The sign said “Cucumber” to the left so left we went. About a mile up the road there were a couple of girls getting out of their car. We asked them if they knew where the falls were and they said it was their first time and didn’t know exactly. So we got out and followed the trail. Soon it came to a creek about 20 feet across and the bridge was washed out. No trail leading anywhere else, so we went back to the truck and decided to go back to the fork and go the other way.
About a quarter mile around a bend there was a nice parking lot with stairs leading down to CUCUMBER FALLS. Glad we didn’t try to cross the creek further upstream where we were. What a great waterfall. Nice drop with plenty of cascading falls and all kinds of accessible rocks in the creek to supply foreground for the photos.
Oh, the rain started coming down harder and rained the whole time we were there. Gave me an opportunity to use my covering for the camera. Fortunately there were some outcroppings of rock so I could store my camera bag out of the rain.
Another plus, rain provides great atmosphere for the photographs.
Well, that's it for this month. No how to's or discount offers. Just some pretty waterfalls. You can see these and many more new photos at Don Peterson Photography. Until next time may God bless you.