The Beauty Around Us

Easter Vacation – Day 4 of 5: McConnells Mill State Park

By Linda G. on May 5, 2014

On the fourth day of our Easter vacation we drove from Waynesboro VA to Grove City PA.

Approximately 20 miles before we reached Grove City, we stopped at McConnells Mill State Park.   The gristmill for which McConnells Mill State Park is named sits along Slippery Rock Creek.  It was one of the first rolling mills in the country.  The gristmill processed corn, oats, wheat and buckwheat for local customers.

I like the view of the mill from across the creek on the far side of the covered bridge. I wish someone would trim the tree branches that cross in front of the mill!  I would love to take a photograph of the mill without the tree branches obstructing the view.  I considered jumping over the guard rail and climbing down to Slippery Rock Creek,  but I decided the climb down was too treacherous for me.  I do not walk well on rocks, being very unsteady on my feet.

We did follow a trail to the right of the covered bridge, which led to the rocky bank of Slippery Rock Creek.  With Bob’s help, I was able to walk on some rocks into the creek basin.

With my confidence at a high, owing to the fact that I was able to walk on some rocks, we climbed back up the hill and crossed through the covered bridge to the other side of Slippery Rock Creek.  We followed a trail on that side of the creek, until we found some rocks that I thought I would be able to walk out on to.  Again, with Bob’s help, I walked across some rocks to the creek basin.

Here are a couple photographs of the covered bridge that I captured from this side of Slippery Rock Creek.  Again, these photographs of the covered bridge were taken from a new (to me) perspective.

We followed the trail back to the gristmill.

This was the last photograph that I took before leaving the state park en route to our hotel in Grove City.  It was not, however, the last photograph that I took at McConnells Mill State Park while on our Easter vacation.
The next morning, after checking out of our hotel, we returned to the park.  The morning light provided more photo opportunities for photographing the gristmill and covered bridge from the dam side of Slippery Rock Creek.

For the next hour or so, while waiting for the sun to get higher in the sky, I entertained myself by taking photographs of the moon, of Bob and of the reflections in the water.

 

 

At 8:51 AM my wait paid off.

My next blog post will continue what I began sharing here — day 5 of our Easter vacation.