The water level on the gauge was at 3.2 (im a big fan of this gauge site for all my paddling http://www.learningdesign.com/cgi-local/rivergage) and recent rains had the creek muddy and moving swift. This was a perfect height for this trip and any lower will mean lots of rock bumping. Fishing wouldnt be the best this day. The put-in at the bridge across from the Drake Oil Well Museum made for an easy launch. Plenty of shared parking for paddlers and bikers of the 9.5 mi, relatively flat, paved trail that heads downstream to Petroleum.
The current was swift and we were off. The Drake Well Museum has an outdoor demonstration that pounds away noisily, giving us a sense of what it probably sounded like in the late 1800s. Rae came across a deer along the shore that allowed her to paddle close while it ate.
Oil Creek is fairly wide and picks up volume from smaller springs and tribs along the way. The banks are tree lined and the roots of big trees keep the bank in place. Despite how heavily wooded the creek is, there were few downed trees or strainers to navigate.
There are several old railroad bridges and pedestrian bridges that we paddled under.
There are remnants of older rail lines, bridge piers, dams and foundations all along this short paddle. Aling the bike trail their are interpretive markers that describe the towns that are no longer there. Some of them sounded like they were pretty lively and some pretty rough. Without the lessons posted along the way, you would never know as the birds and water are all that remain.
We stopped a few times on a few rocky shorelines and islands to stretch. There were plenty of places to do so as we paddled along. Aside from shallow sections, there was only one drop/ chute that was remotely challenging early on. Not sure if it was a sunken pier or just alot of debris that caused this fast hydraulic but it was completely navigable.
Our trip ended around 3 pm at Petroleum Center. There is a signed takeout up stream of the bridge but w/ my bike chained at the parking lot closer to the bridge, we decided to take out at the bridge. There was an overgrown path that connected to the nature trail we chose that was thorny and not maintained. Dad & Rae later found a much nicer takeout just a few more yards downstream that would hVe made it alot easier.
After we took out and got the boats on dry land, i headed for my bike and began the ride back to the put-in to bring the car back. The trail is all paved and has some moderate grade to it. The rain earlier in the day kept alot of people out of the park Im suspecting so I was able to make great time, seeing from higher ground the creek we had just traveled. Its such a different perspective being on the water.
This was a a great trip on Oil Creek and I always like spending time with Dad & Rae. Fishing could have been a little better but being the only ones on the water and having great weather made up for it. We drove back up to Titusville for a bite and some craft beers at Blue Canoe Brewing - a perfect fimish to our trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment