A wonderful Way to Spend Your Tax Dollars
There's a cache that's been in place a while up around Blakeslee - a place called Brady Lake. You may have read about it in the news... Seems the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wanted to "breach" the dam, which it feels to be a bit unsafe, and there are a few hundred residents of Arrowhead Lake downstream.
Well, some folks didn't like this idea, and they started
a grassroots effort to save the place. To make a long story
pretty short, they prevailed upon the folks in Harrisburg, and earlier
this summer, Governor Rendell found $2 million to fix the dam. After
seeing the lake, Rendell said there was no way it would be destroyed.
"Even if not one tourist came here, if it did not generate one outside dollar,
this project would be worth doing," he said. "This is one of the
easiest decisions I have ever had to make."
Good call, Gov.
The access road is off Rte 940 - a few miles east of Blakeslee. It's a few miles long, with a parking area at the end near the dam. There begins a nice trail around the lake. This is one of the attractions along the way - a very unlucky dragonfly! Those spider webs are strong! |
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According to my GPS, the cache was about a half mile around the far side of the lake. It didn't take too long to find it. I got within about a 35 foot reading on the GPS, and then fell back on the "Random Spiral Search Pattern." Found it in about ten minutes. |
| Just down the hill from the cache was a nice view of the lake looking back toward the dam. Brady Lake, like so many others in the region, was once a source of ice for the folks in the big cities. You can still see the ruins of the ice house and the drags where they pulled it up from the lake. |  |
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This is the dam that needs fixing. It is a bit leaky, I'll admit, but I think it had a few good years left. Still, if they make it better, then that's fine, and money well spent, to my mind, because it will save things like this... |
There are very few of God's miracles that exceed that of a golden butterfly exploring a thistle.... Gas to get to Brady Lake and back? A new dam so that this place stays around? A butterfly and a thistle? |
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The access road will be closed for a while beginning tomorrow so they can breach the dam. When the dam is fixed, stop by. You won't regret it. |
With thanks to Poconosnow for a nice cache in yet another place I wouldn't have found.
Click here for a look at the cache page.
© Frank Burnside Jr. 2003