Camping At Ironwood (Lake Wallenpaupack)

[fishin_musician]

I had my kids out for a weekend camping trip recently. Last fall I took them over to Lake Wallenpaupack for a day trip. We had such a good time just cruising around the lake checkin' out all the camp grounds and over looks. One camp was so inviting that I promised them I would take them back for a weekend trip in '09. That camp was Ironwood Point Camp Ground.Ironwood is operated, like all the 'Paupack Camps, by PPL. The grounds are tidy and offer tent sites w/ electricity, handy for keeping cell phones charged. The particular weekend I
had picked to camp had a less than stellar weather forecast, sunny with thunderstorms
probable at anytime. We made it through Sunday w/o any storms but by time the last log had
been tossed on the fire I could see far off lightening in the sky to the south. As I drifted
off to sleep distant rumblings could be heard but then I was gone.

Wind shook our tent waking me, there was a storm approaching which would be upon us in moments. My little girl Mary is still terrified of thunder. I knew she would have a difficult time in the tent with a big thunderstorm raging outside. I lay in my sleeping weighing the alternatives and decided to get the kids up and sit out the storm in our van. I didn't relish the thought of being electrocuted or having a centuries old hemlock fall on us so we whisked ourselves to the security of our vehicle. We slept in our seats and in about an hour I was woken by Mary asking to go back to the tent, the storm had passed. We finished our night sleeping while a gentle rain fell and arose to morning sunshine
I had planned a hike for this morning. My kids are good hikers.  The three of us hiked the full Shuman's Point loop (about 3.5 miles) two years ago when they were just 4 and 6 years old. So, I thought it would be appropriate to knock off another 'Paupack nature trail. After a couple bowls of Capt'n Crunch we were headed up to the PPL Ledgedale Campground to pick up the trail head for our little hike through the Ledgedale Natural Area.
We easily found the trail head after getting some directions from the summer hires in the camp store. I let the kids find the blue blazes which clearly marked the path to follow. We opted to take the outer loop so we could see the bridge and the small stream that it crosses. There were a few wild flowers and some nice patches of hay scented ferns. We kept hearing the cries of a bird that was unfamiliar to me. After a while the mystery was solved as it proved to be a young wood thrush. There must have been a whole clutch of them just leaving the nest because the cries were coming from all directions.
We had made our way around just over half of the loop when we came across a tee pee-like arrangement of branches. There were actually 2 separate constructions. I shot a pic
thinking that it was probably some kids from the neighborhood building forts. A week later I
was being treated to a tale about Bigfoot sightings in NEPA. I am skeptical of all bigfoot
stories but had never heard of any NEPA sightings so I was Googling it and found a bunch of
pics of what were alleged to be Sasquatch stick constructions, signs or markers deliberately
made by big foot himself. What instantly struck me was the resemblance these big foot stick
things had to the "fort" I photographed. The whole episode got me back into Blair Witch mode
and I'm grateful that I was ignorant of all this before we took our walk.
Other activities we engaged in were fishing, smores eating, playground playing and swimming. I didn't bring any swim suits for the kids so when Mary discovered a $1 swimming beach operated by PPL we improvised using shorts with a little top for Mary. A lifeguard's on duty and snacks are available at the day use area adjacent to the Wilsonville Campground. There was nothing left to ask for except more time. We packed up on Tuesday morning satisfied that we had gotten the most out of our brief stay at the "Pack" each of us looking forward to coming back again next spring and bringing mom along to share our little adventures.

Shuman Point Natural Area
Ironwood Point Campground
Ledgedale Natural Area