ohiopyle falls EarthCache
Hidden : 4/29/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

Ohiopyle State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 19,052 acres (7,710 ha) in Dunbar, Henry Clay and Stewart Townships, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The focal point of the park is the more than 14 miles (23 km) of the Youghiogheny River Gorge that passes through the park. The river provides some of the best whitewater boating in the Eastern United States.



Ohiopyle State Park is a popular destination for rafting, kayaking, and canoeing, but it also has over 100 miles (160 km) of trails that are open to hiking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, mountain bikes and snow mobiles. The trails pass by several of the parks a waterfalls and ascend the mountains to scenic overlooks. The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, part of the larger Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, has its southern terminus at Ohiopyle State Park

The Youghiogheny River is the busiest section of whitewater east of the Mississippi River. The Lower Yough, a 7-mile (11 km) run, begins at Ohiopyle Falls and ends at the Bruner Run take-out, and the Middle Yough begins at the Ramcat put-in near Confluence and ends just above the falls in Ohiopyle. One weekend per year or so, there is a race and festival devoted to the falls, and the state park permits paddlers to run the falls. The Lower Yough River is rated Class III to Class IV on the International Scale of River Difficulty, depending on water conditions; the easier Middle Yough is rated II, and Ohiopyle Falls is rated IV.

The Rock Layers

The oldest rocks, Devonian age, are present in the deepest part of the gorge, between Victoria and Bidwell, where they consist of brown, gray and reddish-colored sandstones and shales.

Younger, Mississippian rocks are present throughout much of the park area and are more varied in nature ranging in type from light-gray conglomerates, made up of small, white quartz pebbles, to red and green shales, to gray, very sandy limestones. The conglomerates are present along the road to some gas wells on the south side of the river. Red shales are present along the paved road east of Sugarloaf Knob. The limestones are found in the saddle between Sugarloaf Knob and the smaller knob to the east.

The youngest rocks in the area, Pennsylvanian in age, are economically important because of their embedded coals. The oldest of this age is called the Pottsville group and consists of tan to gray sandstone and conglomerate. These rocks make the scenery, since they form the falls and rapids in the river and the prominent cliffs along the sides and top of Laurel Hill. The younger Pennsylvanian rocks are mostly tan to dark-gray shales with some standstones and coal beds. The rock layers exposed in the park were deposited as sediment during the Paleozoic Era of geologic time. Older rocks are present but are deeply buried and known only from well drillings. At that time a shallow sea existed in the area, extending from the mid-continent area eastward into Pennsylvania.

Water vs. Rock

Here, at Ohiopyle Falls, the Youghiogheny River has struggled against solid rock for millions of years. The noise vibrates inside us as we watch the conflict and we find it strangely fascinating, but what is really happening here?In simplest terms the river is trying to find a smooth calm passage to the sea. But the earth below has shifted. Hard resistant rock formations have pushed into the rivers path. Persistently the river probes, trying to find weakness in this rocky barrier. Hard, Pottsville sandstone resists the erosive power of the Youghiogheny to form the Ohiopyle Falls. But, over time the river will find weaknesses and cracks in the sandstone. Turbulent water spilling over the falls carves into softer rocks and undermines the hard sandstone. The sandstone cracks along natural joints and falls into the river. Slowly the falls retreats upstream until the sandstone barrier is reduced to rubble.Assuming the pounding, grinding and buffing continues, Ohiopyle Falls eventually will disappear and the river will win this contest, in perhaps 500,000 years.

To log this cache:

Upload a picture of your GPS at the posted coordinates, with the falls in the background.

And email me the answer these 2 questions:

1. What type of rock is most visible around the falls from the posted coordinates

2. How far does the elevation of the river drop from the railroad bridge up river ( now a walking bridge ) to the posted coordinates ?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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