Loleta Rec Area etc

  Took a hike at Loleta Natl. Rec. Area again, where some of the great stone work of the CCC is evident. Just zoom in on the dam to see that they don't build them like that anymore. I am a fan of some kind of national service to help unify this country, and doing infrastructure work such as much needed maintenance on our state and national parks would be a way to employ people after this pandemic ends.

 As for the car...It is now 3 years old with 40,000 miles and I have had absolutely no problems other than a loose heat shield that was easily tightened. The warranty still has 2 years remaining on the bumper to bumper and 7 years/100,000 miles on the engine and drive train-not bad for a purchased new price of $9,995. Mitsubishi Mirages get terrible reviews by the 'experts' yet many owners- including me- love them,  It is great everyday transportation and averages 47mpg... What's not to like? I  think the 'experts' are fools on this one, and totally missing the point of this car for people who simply want good, basic, reliable transportation.

Chapman Dam

   Circled the pond at Chapman today-a state park about ten miles from the house. A cross country skier had proceeded me in the new snow, but it is always a tranquil, beautiful  park just a short drive from Warren. The pond is popular for fishing, swimming and kayaking in summer, as well as ice fishing and sledding on a groomed hill in winter. Most years there is a festival in January, with dog sled races etc, but Co-vid has canceled that for this season. Winter is Beth's favorite season, and despite my preference for warm weather, I am not blind to the beauty of a winter woods. In fact, hemlocks draped in a fresh snow offer me a humbling contrast to the muttering under my breath I do when I have to scrape the windshield almost every day.

One of many nationwide

   " ANF-13 (Bull Hill) was operational from July 2, 1935 until 1946, but it was converted to a German POW camp from 1942 through 1946. It was also used as a YCC, Youth Conservation Camp, in the 1970s, with the addition of mobile trailers on the site. There was a Univ. of Iowa forestry field school here in the 1980s and it was an 82d Airborne exercise area. The CCC men from here built the Farnsworth Fish Hatchery, and also Forest Roads 116, 119 and 154, as well as many other projects. Besides Bull Hill, it was also called the Austin Hill and the Cherry Grove Camp. See the "Valley Voice" (Sheffield newspaper) for Friday, Oct. 1999 for interviews, photos and maps. A 1994 edition of this paper has many more photos. An article in the Sheffield "Observer" for Aug. 13. 1935 lists the eleven buildings, which included five 110' barracks. It is west of Sheffield,PA on Route 2002, between Forest Roads 416 and 481. There is a road side historic marker, erected by the ANF. Isabelle Champlin, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Bradford, PA., has site maps, as does the ANF."

        Walked past this marker a few weeks ago-in the middle of nowhere essentially- but I never saw any of the buildings which were torn down years ago. A lot of stonework the men did in the forest-dams and buildings and walls- has aged well. Quality stonework is a lost art and usually replaced by concrete in the modern age, although even modern concrete seems to break down much faster than that mixed in the last century. There are concrete bridges from the 1930's which are only now crumbling and ten year old concrete bridges down the road that already show signs of deterioration. It is a sad fact that workmanship is not what it used to be in many places, or at least, too expensive for the majority of us to experience.