Larry A. Smail's Blog

Has spring arrived to western Pennsylvania? Weather-wise the indication is yes! Today was a day of sun and warming temperatures. I suppose the warmth factor reached close to sixty degrees with another day of warmth tomorrow. Regardless if winter shows up again or not, the need to get today was high for me. I elected to travel to the Mahoning Dam area to see what I could see.

The Mahoning Dam was completed in 1941 as a flood control measure for those along the Allegheny River. The dam received the name from the watercourse being controlled. The waterway is known as Mahoning Creek.

I parked high on the hill and walked in to the dam area and later walked to another area to move along the Baker Trail. After all this was to be a day of relaxation and exercise. for me. I was on no time schedule only a sense of completion would rule the plans.

There were no people at first and I walked to the area below the dam. Here I would see Common Mergansers and two Bald Eagles. One mature eagles didn’t offer to me a photo but the immature eagle sure did allowing for a number of quick flying shots.

Later I returned to the parking area and walked a different road to the actual top of the dam where a trail was taken to explore. This trail was a part of the famous Baker Trail, however, I left the trail where it turned abruptly upslope. I wanted to walk along the shoreline of the backwaters of the Mahoning. I was surprised to see the backwaters were about ninety percent covered in ice.

Interesting sounds erupted the solitude as I ventured along the rocky slopes. Ice was creaking all over the northern slope of the dam. The southern slope was void of ice, but it became steeper the farther I walked. Eventually, I was forced to go higher and get into the wooded area due to the steepness of the banks. The water level was about thirty feet or so from the high water line on the steep slopes.