Black Mo: Yes, It Looks Nice; No, You Can't Swim

My husband and I had errands in town in the morning, but we came home for lunch, dropped off the groceries, and switched cars. It had been a few days since our last swim and we were ready to go again. Our last two swims had been in the lovely cool waters of Greenwood Furnace. Where should we go this time: Bald Eagle, or Black Moshannon?

I picked Black Moshannon, since we had not been there in a while, and since I recalled fondly the lovely breezes there had been around the lake on our last visit. I popped my two moose into my tote bag (remember, Moss-Hanne, the original name of the place, means "moose stream"), grabbed all of my swim stuff, and away we went.

When we got to the park, I walked around a while and took pictures. Which was a good thing, I guess. Because there was an unhappy surprise in store for us: the beach was closed! We had placed our chairs sort of at an angle to the beach area, under a shady tree, and did not even see the beach closed signs; the folks under a rainbow umbrella shared the sad news.

So here is a picture of the water, looking lovely and refreshing. But no, you may not swim here at this time. Big signs on the beach and along the restroom/changing area indicated that E. coli had been found in a park water source; there was no swimming, and there was a boil water advisory.

Well, this was not what we were expecting at all! At least I'd already had my walk for the day, so I didn't feel quite as annoyed as my husband did. He'd really been looking forward to and counting on the exercise. 

(No, the information about the closure was NOT shared on the state park's website, or on their Facebook page, or on the PA state parks alert page. As of today, which is the day after our visit, they HAVE placed a notice on their Facebook page.)

So we walked back to the pavilion where our car was parked, and my husband got out the only other footwear he had in the car (he was wearing Crocs to start out), which was a pair of sandals, and he went for a jog in those, around our side of the lake. I sat down with my book to read while he was gone.

Unfortunately, Black Moshannon is sort of in the middle of nowhere, so there was not anywhere else nearby we could go easily to swim. So that was a bust for this day. At least I got some photos; so please enjoy this picture of Black Moshannon, looking very nice, but not swimmable!

My soundtrack song for this experience is the Zombies, with Tell Her No.