No. 32. Dam Sliding Double-Take
I was surprised when I first learned, earlier this summer, about young people sliding down the Kernsville Dam. A YouTube video about the sliders went viral not long ago attracting hundreds of young people from all over the East Coast to The Peace Rock (see some of my pictures) and the Kernsville Dam. Nevertheless, I decided to have some photo fun to capture the action. Further attention was drawn to The Rock by a drowning (nearly an annual event) in the rapidly moving current in the river below in July.
When I was in high school in the early 1960s we often swam about a mile upstream at what is now called the Peace Rock, frequently jumping off the 40-foot outcropping into a deep channel of the Schuylkill river below. I never heard of anyone dam sliding. Then again, in those years the boat ramp just upstream from the dam was active and water skiing was common. The lake really isn’t fit for that kind of activity today.
The Rock has become a public nuisance. Roads are blocked by illegally parked cars. There is no parking along a narrow mountain road and there are no facilities. Mountains of trash and human waste piled up. Recently volunteers organized by Blue Mountain Wildlife collected 75 bags of trash in an effort to clean up the area. Read about it here.
State police have announced they will tow and ticket cars and arrest trespassers. See the Hamburg Item.
