East Upland Trail, Raccoon Creek

           I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking, "But there is no 'East Upland Trail' at Raccoon."  And you're right.  But there SHOULD be one, and so today I went bushwhacking in the place where I thought the trail ought to be: in the very hilly easternmost tip of the park that stands west of US-30.  That's to say, there is parkland east of here, on the other side of US-30, but that is the "Wildflower Reserve."  This is the easternmost area in the main body of the park.  In addition to some nice, steep woodlands, I came across this old farm.

          This morning, my heart was torn between striking off to explore the old, half abandoned factory towns of the Monongahela Valley, or going back to wild Raccoon Creek, as I usually do on my days off.  But my wife requires total accountability, and I thought the hardscrabble ghost towns of the  Mon Valley might be a hard sell.  For that reason, I decided to hit the Old Stone Tavern (below) before coming for a short trek to this unfamiliar section of the park.  I'll do the Mon Valley another day when I'm feeling more adventurous and after some more intensive planning.  

           Followers of my shadowy career know that I stumbled across this old farmstead once before, but I never knew how big the compound was, or how many outbuildings it included.  I did suspect--however--that it would be a lot easier to approach from the woods behind it.

           All of this is on the grounds of the state park.  I worked up my nerve to approach the houses when I realized that no steam was rising from their chimney pipes on this 20-degree day.  The two barns--one wooden and one made of sheet metal--seemed badly neglected.

           Notice the old barn in the distance and the horse fences collapsing into the meadows.  It looked to me as if someone was keeping horses here as recently as the 1980s.  I don't know if this remained a private farm until that time, or if Raccoon Creek used to let people rent horses to ride.

          Earlier this winter, I got a nice frontal view of this cottage, but I didn't approach it for fear of dogs.  It's clearly still in use.  The pickup in the car port had the distinctive PA DCNR logo on the side, meaning that it belongs to the park service.  And--just as I suspected--when I walked past the house, I heard the deep bellowing of a large dog.  Fortunately, he couldn't get at me.  Not only is the place not abandoned, but my iPhone detected a wireless network as I shuffled past.  Unfortunately, I dismissed it before making note of the network's name.  If it was named something like "rac_guesthouse" or "rac.ranger" then some of the mystery of this place would be cleared up.

          I really do think there ought to be a nice loop trail through this trackless segment of the park.  It's a good, high location with some views.  I'd be willing to blaze the trail, too, but I don't have time in my life for that kind of activity just yet.  Maybe in a few years.  Of course, the park service might not want a trail in this area, since they seem to like to keep this old farm a secret.