Sunday September 26, 1993

Hopwood, PA
Falling Water
Dolly Sods
Red Creek Campground (Monongahela National Forest)

Awoke this morning after a night of roaring trucks and cars on US Route 40. The sky was clearing and the sun broke through at about 8:00 AM. We went to the Howard Johnson's for breakfast, up the road and across from the Sun Porch where we had dinner the night before. Chris had two boxes of Raisin Bran, and I had a 'Croissant Deluxe' which was eggs and ham covered with cheese whiz on a fair sized croissant, hash browns on the side. Adequate, but I knew I would have some trouble with the cheese whiz later on.

After breakfast we headed back to PA 381 and turned north through Ohiopyle towards Falling Water. Ohiopyle is a center for white watering on the Youghiogheny River. There is a Youth Hostel there, several outfitters and a few small restaurants for snacks. The rain from yesterday would fill this place up today as folks came in from Pittsburgh a couple of hours away.

Reaching Falling Water we paid our US$ 8.00 each at the entrance gate and then drove up the road to the parking area. The entrance road goes through a Mountain Laurel thicket and must be amazing in late June. Once you reach the parking area you walk into a visitors center that is of amazing architectural design. You look at it and say to yourself that this is all that is needed for something like this, and that moreover it would make a fine home design. It was very nice.

We had made a reservation for the 11:00 AM tour, but got there an hour early and were willing to try our luck. We were told this would not be a problem, and were set to go off with the 10:00 AM tour group.

We hung around the gift shop waiting for our group to be announced. when it is, you walk along a gravel road for about 1/4 mile. Soon you can hear the creek that this remarkable home is built over, and after yesterday's heavy rain it was roaring!

You first catch a glimpse of Falling Water through the trees. I am pretty certain that you have all seen pictures of this, the most famous and accessible Frank Lloyd Wright Home. If you have not, let it suffice to say that the home is built over a waterfall and into the side of a hill. Its cantilevered concrete levels anchored into a stone structure that acts as a central pivot for the design, and as a fireplace for the interior. What is most amazing about Falling Water is that it is the only Wright home that still has its original furnishings, many designed by the architect himself. This gives you the complete picture of how Mr. Wright wanted this home to look.

It was built for Edgar J. Kaufmann, a Pittsburgh merchant, in 1936 and given to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963 by his son as a museum and testament to the architects work.

Tours are geared towards adults and so children under 9 must remain at the Day Care Center in the visitor's center. There is a small charge for this.

Our tour group consisted of about 12 people, and were the third in for the day, so the home was not crowded when we began. As the tour progressed however it became increasingly crowded in this home, with several groups, each about 15 minutes apart. You are escorted through the home by a guide (docent) who will explain to you what you see, and answer any questions you may have.

With the river swollen with last night's rain, it was at times difficult to hear our guide over the roaring of the falls that sit almost directly under the house.

Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to build this home on a small bluff that overlooked the waterfall, but he desired that the waterfall become as much a part of the home, as it had become a part of the family. There was certainly some discussion, and a bit of reluctance, but Mr. Wright got his way, as he almost always did. This place is stunning. And more so for its use of cantilevered concrete and stone, careful placement of windows, and doors. Mind you, if you are taller than 6'4" you will certainly bang your head often in this home! The people who lived there averaged 5'7" and to them the lowish ceilings were fine. For more modern day man however, duck! Chris, who stands 6'4" spent a lot of time hunched over.

The tour of the home takes about 45 minutes. You are also shown the guest quarters which is connected to the main home by a covered outdoor walkway. The covering for the walkway is of concrete, pressed into a semi-circle, and only supported on its outside edge by thin decorative metal columns. This portico was poured all on a single day during construction and being curved, actually uses both the main house and the guest house for support, and it in turn offers support for their outer walls. An amazing feat for the time.

After leaving Falling Water we drove south on PA 381 to the West Virginia state line. The route numbers are that well marked on the WV side of the border, but I believe we were on County Route 3, possibly State Route 3, but the state roads are usually pretty good. This was a winding two lane that was an excellent introduction to the 'country roads' feel of this beautiful state.

Davis' main street fronts a long removed railroad. The town is neat and clean as the highway climbs down pass small stores and shops, then climbs up the ridge on the other side and out of this little town. We would see many like this during the next two weeks.

From Davis we headed south on State Route 32 through the growing Canaan Valley, and the ski resorts and State Park this area is famous, and most known for.

Just after the Canaan Valley Sate park entrance we hung a left onto County Route 45 which would take us down a steep precipitous road and into, then pass the village of Laneville, following the ample signs for Dolly Sods, our home that night.

Just passed Laneville you pick up Forest Service (FS) 19, pass the Dolly Sods picnic area and an informational display about the area you will be climbing to. Near the top of the ridge you pick up FS 75 which straightens itself out on the top of the Allegheny Front, and brings you many miles along the top of this high and remote ridge.

Well before the Red Creek Campground there is an overlook with parking on the right (east) side of the road. The view looks down into the town of Petersburg, and over the parallel ridges that make this area of the nation unique in its geography. You are at about 4000' and the valley below is more than a thousand feet lower. It was our first wide view in West Virginia and is highly recommended.

The day was windy and cool at lower elevations, but up here it was windy and cold. But we had packed clothes for snow and were not the least bit concerned about the weather.

Further along the road, and right before the Red Creek Campground is the Northland Interpretive Loop Trial. It's a short hike, but one that will give you an easy feel for this foreboding landscape.

We took site #4 of the 12 site Red Creek Campgrounds. There is a small maple tree we knew would offer some protection from the increasing winds and promised rain of that evening. There is a water pump and several 'Porta-Potties' there while the outhouses are being rebuilt. There were several other campers in the grounds with us, but they were all in tag-along's, or motorhomes, something we would find time and time again during our travels. We were often the only people tenting.

Since wood is scarce at the campground Chris and I headed up the road towards Bear Rocks Overlook to scour the roadside for down and dead material for a fire that night. As you drive up FS 75 you come over a high point in the road and the world opens up for you in a landscape that is straight out of the Yukon. It is tundra like, with 'flag' spruce growing out of improbable places. These 'flag' spruce are called such because they grow only on one side due to the constant winds at this location. There are several other areas in the state at which we will see them, most notably Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia at 4863'.

We were awe struck by the desolation of this landscape. Just hours before we were driving through thick forest, and now we were in northern Canada. Amazing. Barren, arctic-like tundra of low scrub and scrub oak, spruce and rock, for as far as one can see across this high plateau of some 4000' in elevation above sea level. It was of stark and rare beauty, and to this flatlander totally alien. It would take a while for us to see the remarkable beauty inherent in a place like this.

We did eventually continue on with our hunt for dead wood, and found plenty of it on the roadsides away from the campground. We took our time filling up the truck, listening to the wind howl around us, then headed back for camp.

After a dinner of Tofu-Pups, Chris and I sat in our chairs and watched the interplay of the 3/4 moon and the fast moving, low clouds that scattered the evening sky. We never did get a fire going that night, for it never got as cold as we thought it might. Chris and I have never burned a campfire unless we felt we needed it for heat, and this night would be no different. There was a promise of rain in the sky as we settled off to sleep, rain that never came.

Mileage today - 110