Rimrock | The Beauty Around Us

Posts tagged ‘Rimrock’

First Sighting

It wasn’t at our house, but it wasn’t far from our house. We drove only a short distance before we had our first sighting.

This is the first snowfall of the 2012-2013 season. I know it is too much to hope for that this will be all we see this season.

We went for a drive today. Rimrock was not our destination. I need to sort through, edit and upload the photographs from our destination. I’ll share photographs and details of today’s daycation with you in my next blog post.

An Afternoon Spent with Tom and Heather

We have two families – the families that we were born into and our Vulcan Riders and Owners Club (VROC) family. We have strong ties to both families. We spent yesterday afternoon with Tom and Heather, two members of our VROC family, whom we met briefly at the Wolfman’s Wandering Rally in June 2009.

Tom and Heather at Wolfman’s Wandering Rally 2009

Tom was looking at me, as I took this picture. Heather is sitting beside Tom, behind her mother. Although we had not seen either Heather or Tom since June 2009, we kept in touch via blogging and Facebook.On June 18 I received a Facebook message from Tom. He and Heather were planning a short camping trip to Evangola State Park, which is located along the shores of Lake Erie in New York between the cities of Dunkirk and Buffalo. Tom expressed an interest in riding through the Allegheny National Forest on Saturday and asked if I had any tips as to what is a must-see while around that area. I replied to Tom’s message the next day, providing him a list of places to see while in the Allegheny National Forest. I told Tom that Bob and I would be happy to ride with Heather and him, if they wanted to meet up with us. Tom replied to my message that same day. He and Heather would definitely like to meet up with us.Tom and Heather arrived at our house around 11:15 AM this past Saturday. Soon after their arrival we departed for downtown Warren. After Tom and Heather had topped off their fuel at Kwik Fill and took a few photographs of downtown Warren, we were on our way to the Allegheny National Forest.We followed the Allegheny River to Kinzua Dam.

Our first stop was at Kinzua Dam.

Our second stop was at Rimrock Overlook, which provides a lofty view of the Allegheny Reservoir.

Bob, Tom and Heather at Rimrock Overlook

Heather, Bob and Tom on stone stairway that leads to the base of Rimrock Overlook

Stone Stairway

Leaving Rimrock Overlook we backtracked a little ways to Jakes Rocks Overlook. Here we enjoyed one last look at Kinzua Dam.

Tom and Heather at Jakes Rocks Kinzua Dam Overlook

Leaving Jakes Rocks we took Longhouse Scenic Drive (FR262) to SR321, where we turned right towards Kane. Before reaching Kane we stopped for lunch at Bob’s Trading Post.

After lunch we rode through Kane and Mt. Jewett to Kinzua Bridge State Park.

Tom and Heather at Kinzua Bridge State Park
In the background is what is left of Kinzua Bridge.

It has been 8 years since Kinzua Bridge was blown down by a tornado. Remnants of the bridge still lay on the forest floor. I wrote a blog post about the Kinzua Bridge in September 2009. If you are interested in reading that post about Kinzua Bridge and seeing a few more photographs, you may do so by clicking here.

From Kinzua Bridge State Park we made our way to Quaker Lake at Allegany State Park in New York, where we said our goodbyes. I’m so happy that Tom contacted me about his and Heather’s plan for riding through the Allegheny National Forest. Bob and I enjoyed Tom and Heather’s company and enjoyed riding with them. The chilly and wet weather couldn’t put a damper on the good times that we shared.

Tom uploaded a blog post about our ride through Allegheny National Forest as well. Please visit Tom and Heather’s blog, “Tales from the O.C.”, to read his description of the day’s ride as well as view additional pictures from the ride.

Click here for a map of Saturday’s ride.

Mother and Daughter Photo Session

I mentioned in my previous post that I would be photographing my stepdaughter, Stacey, and her mother in the near future. That photo session happened yesterday. The photo session took place at three locations: Kinzua Dam, Bent Run Falls and Rimrock Overlook, all three locations in the Allegheny National Forest and not far from our home in Warren, PA.

Stacey and Chris at Kinzua Dam

Stacey and Chris at Bent Run Waterfall

Stacey and Chris at Rimrock

In addition to photographing Stacey and her mother, Chris, I managed to capture a couple photographs of the dads too.

Stacey and Jay at Bent Run Waterfall

Stacey and Bob at Bent Run Waterfall

After the photo session we went to Stacey’s house, where we were joined by Mike (Stacey’s fiance) and Jeff and Vanina (Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law). A pot luck BBQ dinner was enjoyed by all. All in all it was a wonderful day!

A Friday Afternoon Ride

Bob and I went for a motorcycle ride yesterday afternoon. Bob has been out on the motorcycle several times since the riding season began. This was my first ride of the season. I could have gone for a ride before yesterday, but I just didn’t feel like riding. We didn’t ride far, only 20 miles east of Warren and then back home. It was an enjoyable ride, but what I enjoyed most was spending time with my husband. We made three stops during our ride.

Our first stop was at Rimrock Overlook. Rimrock, which is in the Allegheny National Forest, is located approximately 20 miles east of Warren, Pennsylvania. Rimrock offers a picnic ground, an overlook with splendid views of the Allegheny Reservoir and the opportunity for climbing rocks. The view of the Allegheny Reservoir was splendid indeed, as several tall trees that had blocked the view were cut down earlier in the year.

The last of the steps down to Rimrock Overlook

Rimrock Overlook of Allegheny Reservoir

See the people atop the highest point at Rimrock?

View of Forest Floor from Rimrock Overlook

Our second stop was at the Big Bend Recreation Area just downstream of Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River.

Bird-viewing platform at Big Bend Recreation Area

As we approached the bird-viewing platform, I noticed fishermen in the river below the platform. The fishermen were leaving when we reached the platform.

The view from the bird-viewing platform is so serene. I saw these gorgeous blossoming trees on the right of the platform. In front of the platform was the beautiful Allegheny River.

We saw Merganser ducks on the river, but they were too far away for good photographs.

Our last stop was along River Road in Warren to see if Mama and Papa Swan had any young ones yet.

This is Papa Swan. Mama Swan was sitting on the nest a little bit to the right of Papa Swan. No babies yet.

Seven Hours and 140 Miles Later

This past Sunday Bob and I went on a drive around the Allegheny Reservoir, starting at Kinzua Dam. Kinzua Dam, located 6 miles east of Warren, PA along Route 59, impounds the 12,080-acre Allegheny Reservoir. Of those 12,080 acres, 7,783 acres are within Pennsylvania. The remaining 4,297 acres are in New York. The Allegheny Reservoir is 27 miles long with 90 miles of shoreline and includes many recreational facilities to include marinas, boat launches, and campgrounds. There are splendid views of the Allegheny Reservoir from Jakes Rocks and Rimrock. You can see Kinzua Dam from Jakes Rocks as well.

Directions to Jakes Rocks: From Warren go east on Route 59. Just before Casey Bridge turn right onto Longhouse National Scenic Highway and follow signs to Jakes Rocks.
Directions to Rimrock: From Warren go east on Route 59, over the Casey Bridge. Continue to the top of the long hill on Route 59 into McKean County. At the top of the hill, there is an access road to the right (marked Rimrock) that leads one directly to the Rimrock parking area.

Sunday was a beautiful Spring day, with blue skies and temperatures (eventually) in the lower 50s. The day started out pretty cool. The temperature hadn’t even reached the freezing mark when Bob and I started our drive at 9:00AM. We made frequent stops while driving around the Allegheny Reservoir.

Our first stop was at Kinzua Dam.

A thin stream of water falling from the top of the cliff opposite Kinzua Dam fascinated me.
I liked the way that the sun shone on the waterfall.

Our second stop was at Jakes Rocks.

We followed the trail through the forest to the overlook of the Allegheny Reservoir.

While we admired the view of the Allegheny Reservoir, several young people joined us. One young man told us that they had been camping. I think he was amazed that they had camped out on such a cold night! There was time to snap a couple more photographs, as we walked along the forest trail, on our way back to the parking lot.

Bob enjoyed climbing the rocks.

I preferred having my picture taken, while standing beside a rock.

As you exit Jakes Rocks, there are three scenic overlooks. You can see Kinzua Dam from two of the overlooks.

Bob at first overlook of Kinzua Dam

View of Kinzua Dam at Second Overlook.
You can see the Allegheny River at this overlook too.

The third overlook is of Casey Bridge and the Allegheny River.

Casey Bridge Overlook

From Jakes Rocks we continued our drive around the Allegheny Reservoir via Longhouse National Scenic Byway (FR262). We passed by at least one boat launch, as well as three campgrounds — Dewdrop, Kiasutha and Red Bridge.

Elijah Run boat launch

We turned left onto Route 321 and followed it until we met up again with Route 59. We turned left onto Route 59 and made our way to our next stop, which was at Rimrock.

Bob found more rocks to climb at Rimrock.

Two Views of Allegheny Reservoir from Rimrock Overlook

After leaving Rimrock we back tracked a bit on Route 59, returning to Route 321. We turned left onto Route 321 and followed it until we reached Route 346. We turned left onto Route 346 and followed it into New York, at which time the road became Route 280.

My favorite stop during our drive was at the Sugar Bay boat launch along Route 321.

Sugar Bay boat launch, as seen from Route 321. This would have been a perfect spot for a picnic.

The view from the Sugar Bay boat launch

While at the boat launch I took several photographs of a pair of Canadian geese.

Route 280 took us to Allegany State Park, to Interstate 86. As we were within a few miles of the Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca, NY, we decided to go there for lunch. We enjoyed the casino’s all-you-can-eat buffet featuring prime rib and seafood. After eating lunch we played the slots. It wasn’t our lucky day; we walked away with a few less bills in our pocket. We aren’t big spenders, so our loss was not large.

After leaving the casino, we continued our way around the Allegheny Reservoir. We followed Interstate 86 west towards Erie, exiting the Interstate at Steamburg. We followed W Perimeter Road through Scandia, into Warren. Before reaching Warren we made one last stop at the Webbs Ferry boat launch.

View at Webbs Ferry boat launch

We returned home at 4:00PM — 7 Hours and 140 Miles Later.