A Good Paddling for the Fourth

It's been quite a while since we've been out on a bloggable adventure -- a bike ride from Bartram Gardens into Center City Philadelphia a little over a year ago, in fact -- and (!) February 2023 since we blogged about a paddle.  True, we did take the family paddling on the Brandywine River when they visited this June, but that didn't make the blog, so I don't know whether it can be counted or not.

Anyway, it felt good to get at it, all in, again. Blue Marsh Lake, north of Reading, Pennsylvania, is our favorite local paddling destination. We last paddled it on May 21, 2020.

A month or two ago, we scouted suitable launch sites when we took a hike along the shore of Blue Marsh Lake, and decided that a picnic area on Church Road was the best.  This morning, we packed up the kayak stuff and, for the first time, loaded into the back of our new purple Jeep Gladiator, Barney (that was a whole separate adventure), and unloaded to set out onto Blue Marsh Lake:

It was only 8 am, but picnickers were already setting up, and there were several kayaks and paddle boards already in the water.  Fishermen dotted the near shoreline, so we decided to start our paddle along the far shore.  This was the better choice anyway, because that shore had many coves and inlets for us to explore.  A number of them had bird boxes.  We saw no birds, so we don't know which species likes these:

It being early July, the one flower we saw blooming was David's favorite, the daylily, and there were two or three large clusters:

Even early in the morning, it was already 80F, with a clear blue sky, and the turtles took the opportunity to sun themselves on their favorite logs.  If you paddle, you know that turtles are extremely shy and will slide off their rock or log into the water if you get very near.  As a consequence, the photos are few, but we did get one good one:

Another advantage of the shoreline we chose is that it was generally the southern one, and so we had intermittent shade to cool us as we paddled leisurely along.  Kathy was particularly interested in the fish situation, and she spotted a number of large rises.

She even spotted this huge bass lure hanging from a tree, abandoned by some unlucky (or unskilled) fisherman working the shoreline from a trolling boat:

David, on the other hand, examined the flora, and found a few pretty specimens:

Herons and raptors are always the grand prize in our paddling hunts, and we were not disappointed.  We saw several great blue herons and smaller (probably green) herons.  We got to watch one great blue kick another one out of his favorite fishing spot.  The victorious bird eyed us suspiciously as we paddled past:

For the most part, the day was very bright, which made it difficult to get photos with silhouettes, but, as we turned one direction, we found a submerged fallen tree that was in the right light for a profile image:

After an hour, we stopped for a snack and then turned around.  We paddled back along the opposite shore, which was generally less shadowed and made for fewer photographs, but we were able to catch another shot of a pretty clump of daylilies:

And David, ever alert, got lucky to catch fetching flora and fauna in one foto:

As we neared the end of our trip, a solid 2 hours, David remarked that he hadn't seen any ducks, which is unusual in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Kathy agreed, but recounted that she had seen some very cheeky geese at our launch spot, begging scraps from the early picnickers. Sure enough, as we returned to the beach where we began, the flock of geese stood guard, making sure that no one would pass without paying a toll:

We had nothing to pay, but the boss ganders let us pass, probably because their bellies were already full from all the paddle boarders, jet skiers, kayakers and partiers that had arrived at the beach since we had set out. The day was getting hot, the beach noisy, the parking lot full, and we made haste to leave before we got hot, irritated and parked in.

Not bad for a long-delayed paddle adventure.  We had a lot of fun and have started planning our next -- possibly a fishing/paddling/hiking/camping trip to Promised Land State Park.  Stay tuned! 

Schuylkill River Trail - Bartram Gardens to Boathouse Row

Wow, it's been over a year since we moved into 20 Summers.  It's taken a full year to get settled in and start to look around for our usual types of adventures.  But we made it.

On June 13, 2025, we decided to take advantage of the May announcement that the Schuylkill River Trail had opened its Christian-to-Crescent Bridge, linking parts of the Schuylkill Banks section of the trail and allowing walkers, runners and cyclists to travel all the way down to Bartram Gardens.  This allowed us to plan a 12-mile round trip ride from Bartram Gardens, up to the Cosmic Cafe at Boathouse Row alongside the Schuylkill River just above the Philadelphia Art Museum!

We started at Bartram Gardens, and found this view of  Sankofa Community Garden for our start-of-adventure selfy:

The start of our bike ride took us past an access to the Schuylkill River allowing us a view upstream, toward a railroad bridge, in the direction of our ride:

Bartram's Gardens is a beautiful but little known attraction in South Philadelphia.  It is a 50-acre public garden and National Historic Landmark, situated on the banks of the Schuylkill. Founded in 1728 by botanist John Bartram (1699–1777), it is the oldest botanical garden to survive in North America. The Garden is operated by the non-profit John Bartram Association in coordination with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.  Bartram's Garden has the only recreational access to the Schuylkill River and its wetlands. Its trails make up segments of the East Coast Greenway. The garden acts as an outdoor classroom for learning about the plants and history of Southwest Philadelphia. The John Bowman Bartram Special Collections Library contains an extensive collection of documents and materials related to the history of the Garden, the history of Philadelphia, and the development of the field of botany. The garden also serves as a venue for art.

Unfortunately, a 1.55 mile section of the Schuylkill River Trail through Bartram Gardens, known as the Bartram's Mile Trail, is closed for remediation of pollution along that stretch, but it is expected to re-open soon, which will avoid a detour we made through the city streets of Philadelphia's Kingsessing neighborhood.

Eventually, we made it across Gray's Ferry Bridge and down into the Grays Ferry neighborhood, where, with directions we received from other bicyclists, we found the southern terminus of the Schuylkill Banks section of the Schuylkill River Trail.  Work is still being done on the entrance, as you can see in the photo below:

The  trail seems to be fostering urban renewal in the Gray Ferry neighborhood, which is becoming an attractive and interesting home for young people.  Along our route, we spotted this new fishing pier, well occupied with young, optimistic fisher people:

Turning a corner in the trail, we came upon this early view of the Philadelphia skyline, assuring us that we were on the right path to our destination:

We eventually reached one of the landmarks we hoped to visit -- the Christian-to-Crescent Bridge, which frames the city skyline with its magnificent support towers:

Looking back from where we came, we could see still-common structures from Philadelphia's industrial past -- 

-- but, looking head, we caught glimpses of the Schuylkill waterfront in Philadelphia's future: 

By the time the trail enters Center City proper, it becomes very park-like and inviting.  The numbers of walkers, runners and cyclists increased accordingly.  However, the trail was wide and never felt crowded: 

The skyline loomed larger as we approached across a causeway that has been in place since we left Philadelphia in 2012: 

We passed the Schuylkill Banks Center, which displays information about the Delaware River watershed and also promotes kayak and riverboat tours to help visitors learn more about the Schuylkill River: 

Our bike ride along the trail through Center City was a trip down memory lane, reminding us of those many bike trips we did to our office in Center City on Wednesdays, through Germantown from Cedarbrook, down the Wissahickon, and along the Schuylkill's Fairmount Park, then home again with a stop in Chestnut Hill for pizza and beer before finishing our workday round trip by bicycle.

This view of Boathouse Row and the Fairmount Dam is very familiar from those rides some 15 years ago: 

The Fairmount Water Works was Philadelphia's second municipal waterworks. Designed in 1812 by Frederick Graff and originally finished in 1815, it operated until 1909, winning praise for its design and becoming a popular tourist attraction. It now houses a restaurant and an interpretive center that explains the waterworks' purpose and local watershed history. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture and its engineering innovations. It was the nation's first water supply to use paddle wheels to move water.  The main building still stands and is impressive:

We were almost to our turnaround destination, but first we passed the Fountain of the Sea Horses.  This Italian travertine marble fountain featuring four sea horses was a gift from the Italian government to mark the United States’ 1926 Sesquicentennial. Fountain of the Sea Horses is a copy carved after the famed fountain at the Villa Borghese Gardens in Rome, Italy, designed by painter Christopher Unterberger and carved by sculptor Vincenzo Pacetti. The fountain, sent from Italy in 76 pieces, arrived too late for installation at the Sesquicentennial Exposition, which was held in FDR Park in South Philadelphia. It was assembled by Italian craftsmen in 1928 and installed on the axis behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

And then we got to Cosmic Cafe, found a table, ordered our favorite beers for hydration, and got a scrumptious vegetarian lunch!

After a hot, humid, 80F bike ride, it was wonderful to rest and cool down before heading back.

Eventually, we had to mount up and pedal back south along the river.  Six miles later, as we returned to our trailhead in Bartram's Gardens, we stopped at the John Bartram house.  

John Bartram was an American botanist, horticulturist, and explorer, based in Philadelphia for most of his career. Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus said he was the "greatest natural botanist in the world."  Bartram corresponded with and shared North American plants and seeds with a variety of scientists in England and Europe. 

He founded the garden on his farm in Kingsessing, west of the Schuylkill River and miles outside and south of the what were then the borders of Philadelphia. He built its stone house between 1728 and 1731, added a kitchen around 1740, and installed a Palladian-inspired, carved facade between 1758 and 1770. The house still stands, as does his original garden (circa 1728) and greenhouse (1760). Three generations of the Bartram family continued the garden as the premier collection of North American plant species in the world. They sold it in 1850.

Bartram began building this stone house shortly after he purchased the land in 1728. Working in stages over 40 years, he incorporated elements he read about from classical Italian villas, such as carved Ionic columns and Baroque window surrounds. The stone is local bedrock, called Wissahickon schist, that was hand-quarried by Bartram and his family.

 What a discovery this bike ride was!  Not only have we found a bike route that we can extend another mile or two down to Gibson Point on the Schuylkill River, and extend north as far as we can ride along the Schuylkill, but we discovered the amazing history and attractions of Bartram's Gardens.  We guarantee to you that there will be more about all of this in the future!

Hello, Goodbye

Well, the time finally arrived on April 28, 2024.

Eddie and George said goodbye to the road --

-- and hello to 20 Summers!

(Ruby joined them for the celebration.)

Crowley's Ridge State Park

On April 19, 2024, we had one layover day at our campground in Crowley's Ridge State Park, near Paragould, Arkansas, and discovered that Crowley's Ridge -- which we were sitting on! -- has great geological and human interest.  So we decided to devote the day to exploring what was around and under us.

We started by visiting the Crowley's Ridge Nature Center in nearby Jonesboro, which tells all there is to know about this place:

The visitor center is an attractive building designed to be compatible with its environment:

The lobby, with its large, immersive diorama, immediately draws a visitor into the landscape it introduces:

The center focuses on the flora, fauna and geology of Crowley's Ridge.  In addition to many stuffed animals representing local species, it also houses live animals such as local freshwater fish and this cute little owl who looked at us expectantly, hoping we were bringing him his overdue lunch.  He gave us this little look that reminded us of our cat Ruby, trying to communicate without human language:

Some of the animals were not so alive, such as this skeleton of a snapping turtle --

 -- and this stuffed turkey:

The exhibits were well curated and clearly had in mind the interests of school classes on field trips.  There was a demonstration hall with numerous round tables for kids to sit at while learning about the animals presented in the demonstrations.

The primary reason for our visit to the nature center was to learn about the geology and history of Crowley's Ridge.  It turned out to be far more interesting than we expected.

Crowley's Ridge is a geological formation that rises 250 to 550 feet above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi for a 150-miles from just west of Cairo, Illinois, south to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas.  It ranges from 1 to 12 miles wide.  Interesting, its origin, though originally thought clear, is now in dispute.  Originally, geologists thought that it was formed by glacial sediment, known as loess, that was deposited in the area when this ground had been under a great sea that has shrunk to become the Mississippi River.  Originally, scientists thought that the loess was pressed by overlaying sediments, and then, as the sea receded, formed by erosion action of the Mississippi River on its west and the original course of the Ohio River on its east, both flowing south.  At some point, the Mississippi River changed course and joined the channel of the Ohio River, causing the upper Ohio River to become a tributary of the now doubled Mississippi River.  This left Crowley's Ridge standing west of the Mississippi, where it no longer felt the river's erosive effects and has stood since.  More recent scientific thinking suggests that Crowley's Ridge was simply formed by volcanic or seismic uplift, which itself may also have changed the Mississippi's course.  In either event, Crowley's Ridge stands in stark contrast to the Midwest Prairie to its west and the Mississippi Delta to its east -- both flat as pancakes.

Prior to its isolation, Crowley's Ridge had been part of the same mountain system as today's Appalachians, rather than the Ozark Mountains to the south.  Thus, the vegetation is predominantly oak and hickory forests, similar to vegetation found in the Appalachian Mountains. Examples are the tulip tree (or yellow poplar) and the American beech. Ferns and flowers abound here, including the American bellflower, fire pink, butterfly weed, cardinal flower, blue lobelia, phlox, verbena, wild hydrangea, hibiscus, aster, and yellow jasmine.  We saw examples of many of these around our campground and during our later walk around the park.

After visiting the nature center, we stopped at Native Brew Works, a remarkable brewpub, organized as a member club due to the restrictive Arkansas liquor laws.  Alcohol can only be served in limited quantities, and only on premises along with food.  Customers become "members."  As it turned out, the wide variety of their own beers on tap were excellent examples of their various styles and quite tasty -- limited to 5% or lower ABV by Arkansas law.  The food menu was limited but extraordinarily tasty and quite unique.  We enjoyed lunch so much that we posted a photo of the food and drink at the end of this blog entry!

Thus quaffed and fed, we repaired back to Crowley's Ridge State Park, armed with our newfound knowledge of its geology and flora.  We took a 2-mile stroll around the park to see its most notable sights, including the small but pretty Lake Ponder:

The steps down to the lake shown in the photo above, together with other improvements that we saw, were constructed in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  

We always enjoy visiting state and national parks that benefited from the CCC's work because so much of it has stood the test of time and remains remarkable in its architecture, beauty, strength and durability.  It was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 for unemployed, unmarried men ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that supplied manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments.

By the time the CCC program ended at the start of World War II, Roosevelt’s “Tree Army” had planted more than 3.5 billion trees on land made barren from fires, natural erosion, intensive agriculture or lumbering. It was responsible for over half the reforestation, public and private, done in the nation’s history.  CCC companies contributed to an impressive number of state and national park structures that visitors can still enjoy today. More than 700 new state parks were established through the CCC program.  It became a model for future conservation programs. More than 100 present-day corps programs operate on its model at local, state, and national levels engaging young adults in community service and conservation activities. 

Crowley's Ridge State Park preserves a large number of unique CCC structures.  Some, such as a footbridge, have disappeared, but most remain, including a CCC Overlook --

-- that provides a view of Lake Ponder ---

-- and its denizens, including these goose parents and their three fetching goslings --

-- a 600 seat amphitheater that has since lost two-thirds of its original 2,300 seats --

-- a large pavilion built of cypress wood --

-- with a huge seating area and a separate dance floor --

-- and even chandeliers carved from cypress knees! --

-- not to mention a number of cabins, only one of which survives today and is available for rental for overnight stays:

This was quite a walk through architectural and park history.  Together with our trip through geologic history in the morning and our very memorable lunch --

-- this casual, impromptu outing on a stop of convenience may just have become one of most memorable of our last stays in this about-to-end full-time RV career.  

We only wish that you might have as many unexpected pleasures in whatever adventures you are pursuing!

Back to The Crater of Diamonds

April 15-17, 2024

Hi Blog!

We're back! It's been two years, but we finally made it back to the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park. We first visited the park in April 2022 and did a lot of digging and collected gravels to take home. Click the link to our prior blog for all the history and background on the process. We did bring back some possible diamonds for the park geologist to examine. Unfortunately, they turned our to be quartz and amethyst. However, hope springs eternal and we returned to the field to try our luck one last time.

For this visit, we made arrangements with Lovejoy Diamonds to rent a wagon complete with screens, shovels and buckets. While you can rent equipment from the State Park, they only have a few wagons. By renting ahead of time, we could leave the Jeep in the campground and pull the wagon over to the search field with all our stuff.

Rather than use the public wash stations, we decided to use our wagon to wash our gravel. There were several other miners using the spigot, but they brought a splitter, so we could attach our hose without bothering their operation.

The screens come in two sizes. The smaller top screen has large mesh which allows the smaller gravel to pass through. The larger screen has finer mess and holds the small gravel which the diamonds like to hide in. The fine gravel is then transferred to the round saruca which allows the heavy minerals like quartz and diamonds to be concentrated in the center. We scoop out the centers to take home with us.

After cleaning out four 5-gallon buckets, we had filled our 2 gallon bucket with fine, sifted gravel to take home. We took a break for lunch and then decided to stretch our legs by doing a little surface searching. When the sun is bright, it is possible to find diamonds just laying out in the field.

As the day progressed, more and more folks visited the wash station. We were glad we had our own setup to wash our gravel.

However, these Craterheads made us look like pikers. Their four-person team processed dozens and dozens of buckets of gravel.

Most of the pictures we took were from Monday. Thunderstorms were predicted for Tuesday. A heavy rain can wash diamonds from the gravel, making them easier to spot on the surface. Unfortunately, we never really got the rain they predicted. When we returned to the park on Wednesday, it was pretty much the way it was on Monday.

We ended up not staying as long on Wednesday. Lifting buckets of gravel and pulling wagons filled with gear is hard work. Once we returned to camp, it was time to clean up. We ended up taking a shower in the campground bathhouse with our pants on!

.

Crater of Diamonds is a unique experience. While it can be very physical, it is also fun sharing the experience with fellow treasure hunters. 

We have TWO 2-gallon buckets of stones and gravel to take home. Once we get a chance to clean and dry it, we'll let you know if we find any treasure! Stay tuned.