August 24, 2008 – Sightseeing in Potter County

Another beautiful day so we decided to do some sightseeing. We took another forest road to Route 6.

Pictures from the overlooks:


Then we went to Gold for this picture:

Now it doesn’t look like much but according to the post “The only Triple Divide east of the Mississippi. This summit gives rise to three major rivers. The Allegheny River flows into the Ohio, Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico. The Genesee River flows north into Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence River, and North Atlantic Ocean. The Pine Creek-Susquehanna flows into the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.” How about that! (I wonder how the farmer feels about his land being so important!).

The Austin Dam Memorial Park was next on our list. On September 30, 1911, the Bayless Pulp and Paper Company dam broke here and killed at least 78 people. This was the second worst single dam disaster in PA and inspired legislation in 1913 to regulate the construction of dams in the state.

A picture of the dam from above:

From below:

I could not imagine living thru something like this!

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine, talking with our neighbors, and of course, the campfire. Tomorrow we are moving up to Cherry Springs State Park.