Earlier in the morning, after getting the kids off to school, and checking in with the digital world, I looked out the window to see if I should make the trip back to the dam at Marsh Creek Lake.
I was not too convinced that it be a good day, but I did eventually made it up to the dam, where I had only been two days before, but this time with my tripod.
My goal was to start at the spillway gate, and head north along the shoreline as far as I could go, and maybe even get onto the concrete of the main emergency spillway.
Spillway Gate
Walking across the rugged rocks, I wondered to myself several times, if I should not head straight up the hill to the vehicle road, but decided against it, and was greeted with this view when I looked back at the spillway gate.
When I got there, surprised to see that what looked like a dock or morning from a distance, seem to be pilings randomly placed poles into the shoreline.
Lonely Cat o’nine tails
I walked around the point, and onto a dry area which would have normally been covered in several feet of water, and continued looking for a way, to further explore down in the spillway.
In the Marsh
It was difficult walking in the dried swamp grass and cat o’nine tails, but I could see animal tracks heading the direction I wanted to go.
Tt was very apparent that the creatures knew how to maneuver the terrain better than I could.
Eventually time was getting the best of me, and I had to head back to my car before my kids got home from school.
Earlier in the week, I had seen a posting on Facebook that mentioned the Chester County Water Resources Authority, and how they were going to be lowering the water level of Marsh Creek Lake by 8 feet, so I was more than a little interested in seeing what the effects would be, especially having seen the heavy water flow after hurricane Sandy just two weeks before.
Why is Marsh Creek Lake so low?
My niece, Katelyn, had spent the night on a sleep-over, and wanted to joined us on our family walk, especially since she had never been to the dam before.
We parked at the maintenance entrance along Dorlan Mill road, and walked down the long hill, and then onto the trails on the right, heading toward the main emergency spillway to the north.
It was fun watching the kids as they galloped along the trail, and it was easy to see that both Logan and Madison had been down this trail before, while Katelyn was being a little bit more cautious as we moved along the trails.
At the top of the clearing, near the concrete barrier, we got our first glimpses of the drawdown looking into the once marshy area.
Spillway gate and Safety sign
The full impact of the water loss did not hit us until we were walking across the maintenance road on top of the dam, looking down at 20-40+ feet of a new ‘shoreline’.
We walked down the bank alone side the spillway gate, and at the water’s edge, were very amused to see the safety signs above our heads.
As we walked along the western shoreline, the kids delighted in throwing rocks, and launching weather worn planks into the lake, only to have them come back ashore further down our walk.
During our walk, I ran into a gentlemen and his son, and as we talked, he mentioned that he had heard that at lake had covered up a whole township. I was very surprised to hear this, and having never heard this before, I knew I needed to look this up later.
I caught up with my kids again, and as we walking along the ‘beach’, we saw old worn wood docks and cinder blocks thrown all around.
The new shoreline of Marsh Creek Lake
With a careful eye, I also spotted fishing lures, old bottles, cans, hats, while the ‘rock-hound’ in me, also spotted many beautiful examples of layered sedimentary rocks, along with many of examples of quartz with a deep dull blue color.
The kids being kids, wanted to bring everything home, but we had to limit it to what you could carry home on your own…
I was very surprised, but we now have several new door stoppers in two homes!
[Update – History]
Question – Was there a township covered by Marsh Creek Lake?
Yes.
There are records dating back to the 1880s of a community known as Millford Mills, a farming village in the Marsh Creek Valley, which provided food, paper and other products to the Chester County area.
During the mid-1950s, the Chester County commissioners commissioned a survey on the Marsh Creek Valley and devised a plan to create a new reservoir to benefit the Uwchlan and surrounding area townships.
Between 1964-1978, the State of Pennsylvania acquired the land and relocated the residents of those remaining in Milford Mills.
Construction began in 1970, with the clearing of structures, trees and other obstacles.
By 1973, the Dam was completed, and then took another three years for the lake to fill.
A comparison of the spillway dam in Marsh Creek State Park. (Sep ’12 vs Nov ’12) – In the September picture, I am standing in about 4-6 inches of water. — at Marsh Creek State Park.
To get the FULL image, you may need to Zoom-In, 2-times, by Double-Clicking (1500×618).
After spending my Sunday morning, reading all the various headlines, weeding through the rhetoric and engaging in several spirited conversations, it was time to get out of the house.
Especially with the kids!
We backed up, and headed to the Marsh Creek Dam trailhead, and started our Sunday Family nature walk.
The three of us were eager to see what the water level was, since hurricane Sandy had passed over our area earlier in the week.
As we headed down the hill, in the distance, one could see the rapid flow of water as it traveled down the spillway, and by the time we reached the USGS station, it was easy to hear the water thundering over the dam.
From the observation area, we were amazed at the power in front of us.
Looking downstream at bridge
Looking upstream from bridge
Looking down the spillway
Marsh Creek spillway dam
We walked along the trail, enjoying the first cold weather of the season as we headed for the metal bridge.
There was some spirited discussion on who might attend, and much speculation about the weather, since much of the past week or so, has been very cloudy and rainy.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, and looked out the window, only to find the skies still thickly clouded.
This was not good.
With coffee in hand, I went to the Chester County PA Photography page, and started a new thread, trying to finalize the details for our rather impromptu meet-up, later in the night.
Throughout the day, I kept looking at the sky, and try to figure out which way the clouds were moving.
In the mid-afternoon, I took both my kids down to East Ward elementary school, to burn off some energy in preparation for the evening, and when we started to leave, I was beginning to see increasingly larger sections of blue sky, which was very encouraging for a night of photographing the Super Moon.
By the time dinner had been prepared and consumed, the cloudy skies had returned.
Just before I left, I quickly checked the radar for clouds, and the hourly animation strongly suggested that there were big clear pockets of clear sky, coming down from the north, and would be over us within an hour or so.
Using Creek Road (Rt. 282), I got to the boating side of Marsh Creek State Park, within 20 minutes, and was able to find easy parking because many people were already packing up and leaving for the night.
After parking, I started to get my gear, but hesitated from getting it all out, because I still feared that no one was going to show up.
When I reached the predetermined meeting point, I was very delighted and relieved to see several other people standing there with their cameras!
It was very nice to know that I am not the only crazy one!
After the various introductions, I headed back to my car, and grabbed my gear, heading back to the group to setup for the rest of the evening.
As the night wore one, we talked about various topic, and exchanged various stories about photography, family and life.
We also tried to identify which towns were glowing against the sky line, as well as experimenting with flashes and flash-lights.
At 23:35, when perigee finally arrived, the clouds were still as thick as when we started, but it did seem a little brighter, which could also have been from us standing in the dark for the past three and half hours.
It was not long after, that we packed up our gear, said our good byes and headed home. In reading the subsequent posts on the Facebook page, it seems that everyone had a good time!
