The Swimming Hole on Young Woman's Creek

I was balancing precariously atop the huge rock at the edge of the swimming hole, trying to snag a few pictures of the reflections of what turned out to be an absolute peach of a perfect summer's day. My husband had just started wading into the water, but he had turned to watch me climb the slippery rock with some trepidation: "You come DOWN from there!" he shouted; "I'm not swimming until you do."

The rock was indeed a bit slippery in spots and I was holding my camera in my hands. But I was being very, very careful. And from my vantage point high atop the rock, I had a great view of the reflections of green trees and crystal blue sky, with puffy white clouds. I looked down to my left and saw a green plant. Hmm. Poison ivy, maybe? Had I already stepped in it? And so I took my shots and I - carefully, carefully - crawled down off the rock.

The weather was cool in the morning and sunny and pleasant all day long. The plan for the day had been to take a vacation day so we could go swimming at Hyner Run State Park, as all of the pools at the parks will be closing in a few weeks. (Summer is winding down, people; seize the days!!!!)

But the swimming pool at the park doesn't open until 11 am. And so we grabbed a quick McDonald's breakfast and headed for Young Woman's Creek, a tributary of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River not far from Renovo, for some stream walking (and possibly swimming) first. The location was actually the site of our very first wade of this year, back in April (and there was still snow then, as you can see in my Blip pic from that day).

And so it was that my "morning meeting" on this day consisted of a marvelously chilly (water temp = 59.4 degrees F) swim with my husband in a favorite swimming hole on one of the most beautiful Pennsylvania creeks we know of. We used to car-camp along Young Woman's Creek in the early years, but all of those areas have been closed off to camping now. So now we just park our car, walk in, and wade; or we swim if the water is high enough to do so.

We were delighted to discover that with all of the rains this summer, the water level was very respectable, and so we waded along the edges and then we actually swam in the deeper channel that runs through the middle of the big swimming hole. At the deepest point there, the main channel is somewhere between 6 and 8 feet deep - deep enough for both of us to swim without touching bottom, in cool, clear waters.

It turns out, strangely enough, that I was the first one in to swim. I jumped down off the rock, crossed the creek (my water shoes make me amphibious), put my swimsuit on, and was in the water in mere minutes. All I could see at water level was the beautiful green shimmers of the tree reflections on water (see the green shimmer photo in the extra photos area). 

My husband was still standing in the same spot from which he'd been giving me the safety lecture earlier. "Boys go first?" I asked, trying to egg him into going in first. But he was lollygagging, and so I passed him easily as I dunked myself (EEEEEEEYAAAAAAAH! was the water cold!) and then I swam a few strokes in the delicious water. Oh, did that feel good!

I was singing a song out loud as I did so, teasing my husband about me - the GIRL - going first, and laughing and chortling, as children (of any age) are wont to do. The tune I was singing loudly and off-key was by the Rolling Stones. "I'm so hot for her and SHE'S SO COLD!!!!!" I sang, as I swam past him. Well, of course, he couldn't take it, so in a moment, my husband had dunked himself and he was swimming too.

I have to tell you now that one of the neat things about Young Woman's Creek is the butterflies. I always see lots of them there. The creek is lined with joe pye weed, which the butterflies adore, and I think the butterflies perceive the waterway as a flight path. I once came across a bunch of tiger swallowtails puddling in the parking lot by the road, and I looked on this day but did not see them there.

But a parade of butterflies did make their way past us as we swam: great spangled fritillaries, pearl crescent, maybe a comma or a question mark, possibly some monarchs, others I wasn't close enough to identify. I got out at one point and walked down to the closest stand of joe pye weed; counted a half-dozen great spangled fritillaries on the blooms of a single plant.

All I had actually hoped for out of this day was a really nice swim in cold water to refresh me. But there was more in store; much more. For after we spent a few hours at the swimming hole on Young Woman's Creek, we stream-walked all the way back down the creek to our car and headed over to swim at Hyner Run. On our way, we saw hang gliders at Hyner View. What a perfect day they had for it.

By the time I crawled out of the water at Hyner Run, I was exhausted, and beginning to feel like our day was some kind of triathlon: "I think I've had enough swimming," I whispered to my husband, as I drug my pretty much lifeless body out of the pool.

But there was one more treat waiting for me on this day: food! My energy was restored by the application of a marvelous fried-chicken meal at the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lock Haven. Alas, we have no KFC in State College anymore. It closed a while back. So we have to go to other towns to fulfill our KFC cravings.

KFC is featuring something called a $5 fill-up this summer. My husband got the 3-piece chicken strip version, and I got the 2-piece leg and thigh version. The meal also features a huge mound of mashed potatoes and gravy, a biscuit, a soda, and a cookie. I added on an individual serving of cole slaw, as KFC cole slaw is a favorite of mine. Our meal was so lovely that I took a photo and included it in the extra photos area; off to the right outside of frame are the drinks and cookies. (The good news is there are leftovers for Friday!)

There are days that are just beyond belief, they work out so well. And this was one of those days. It was a three-picture day for me, Blip-wise. And I am so glad of the extra photos feature so that I can show you several shots of some of the things that made me very, very happy on this day.

The tune to accompany this image of one of the nicest little swimming holes I know of, anywhere, is the song that I was singing in the water to my husband. I looked at the video and marveled at how young Mick looked when it was filmed, back in 1980. I guess we all looked a little younger in the 80s, but WE'RE ALL STILL HAVING PLENTY OF FUN ANYWAY!!!! :-) The soundtrack is The Rolling Stones, with She's So Cold.