Friends of Little Rocky Run - Virtual Tour of Watershed, Page 4, 1st Creek Crossing to the 2nd Creek Crossing

This is a very popular part of the creek and is frequented by people fishing, hiking, biking, and generally having a good time.

The picture at right, taken on 11/3/02, is the upstream view from the first creek crossing, taken while standing on rocks in the creek.  The overhead power lines are faintly reflected in the lower part of the photo.  The cliff on the right side is rocky and steep. Beavers frequently build dams at this spot and further upstream.  Beaver kits were seen here in the summer of 2002, but the family moved away for reasons unknown.  Geese and ducks nest along the banks in the Spring, a major reason for keeping dogs on a leash particularly at that time of the year. The photo below shows an old beaver dam site and the view of the creek just above the rocks shown in the photo at the right.

The storm drain at left, 50' upsteam from the above left photo, drains the pipestem at the bottom of Marblestone Drive.  It is poorly designed.  However, it is seldom clogged with trash, which is a positive reflection on the trash habits of the nice people who live on the pipestem. The section of the creek at right is just below the second crossing, about 100' above the photo at left.  Note the abandoned steel culvert pipe at right, which is buried under several tons of rocks.

The photo above also shows a large earthern dam at the 2nd creek  crossing.  The hump on the left with two whitish trees growing out of it is one side, and the other side is on the far right of the photo above the steel culvert pipe.

The 2nd creek crossing is an ideal spot for a dam, and there was probably a sizeable lake behind it long ago.  This is a good place to mention James and Martha Jenkins who used to live in the white frame house on the corner of Union Mill and New Braddock Road.  They made their living selling firewood.  James died about a year ago in 2001, and Martha is in Commonwealth Hospital as of 10/2002. James said that he used to hunt extensively in the Little Rocky Run stream valley, often on muleback.  He believed that the dam at this crossing was certainly built before 1900 and he could recall seeing it long since breached in the 1920’s.  He said that in those days people “brought the saw mill to the trees rather than bring the trees to the saw mill.” The photo below shows the second creek crossing (N 38° 48.655’ H077° 26.027’), marred by the presence of seven abandoned concrete culvert pipes.

Photos on this page taken in October and November 2002.

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