Restricted Access Signs |
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We arrive in the upper parking lot just after dawn on a rainy
Saturday in early summer. After parking our minivan in
the parking lot and picking up some trash, left
by a group of party people, we don our hip-waders, pack,
canteen, walking-stave, hat and of course, our camera.
It is
6:00 in the morning, as we leave on our first
Dunbar Creek Tour. We start by fording Dunbar Creek. This is the
first of many crossings we will make on our trip
up the valley. We will be following the Jeep /
ATV trails along the stream to the top of the
mountain. Portions of these trails are remnants of narrow gauge
railroad beds that once carried raw materials from the
mountains down to the furnaces in Dunbar. They are, for
the most part, relatively easy to walk and very resistant to
traffic damage because they had to have a limited grade and
also be stabilized to support the trains. The trails are
kept open by a combination of the efforts of State Game Lands
employees, volunteer efforts and ATV traffic. Although ATVs are not permitted on
State Game Lands, they do travel along the old trails throughout the Dunbar Game
Lands.
The water level is
high but clear, due to several days of rain in the
valley. Even though the rains have been heavy, the water
is still pretty clear. Few streams exhibit such an
ability to resist muddying in response to heavy rain. Even
fewer clear as quickly as Dunbar Creek.
The pools above and
below the large boulders, just above the crossing, almost
always hold some trout. Sometimes they also hold kids
and adults, wading in the stream to cool-off from the summer's
heat.
There is also a trail along the eastern side
of the creek. We will follow it on our way back down the
valley.
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