When I started writing my blog post from the other day, Wednesday March 15th, 2017, I had anticipated writing a post about the Pleasant Hill Dam. What turned out to happen though was I got off on a tangent about taking pictures while Bobby drove the car. If you want to read about that Fiasco you can check it out here. So this is my attempt to write a blog post about Pleasant Hill Dam. The dam itself is actually not what I expected. I guess in my head, I thought it would be something like Hoover Dam. It is not.
The marker at the Dam explains that it is an earth dam. I did a little more research and found on the Ohio History website this information about the Dam: “Original description reads: “Pleasant Hill Dam, is located on the Clear Fork of the Mohican River, 5 miles west of Loudenville and 2 miles south of Perrysville, in Ashland County.” Completed in 1936, Pleasant Hill Dam was constructed for flood reduction, recreation, and fish and wildlife management. The dam is made up of rolled earth fill with an impervious, water proof, core of clay. It is 113 feet high, 775 feet long, with a top width of 30 feet, and a base width of 550 feet. A unique feature of this flood control structure is the ‘Morning Glory Spillway’, one of only two dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with this type spillway.” I guess what they call the “Morning Glory Spillway” is what Bobby called a modern day Stonehenge.
The area was beautiful and peaceful. Granted it was around 10 a.m. and it was pretty cool that day, so maybe that is why people stayed away. There were a few cars in the parking area and this one guy was putting his camera away to leave. So I guess Bobby wasn’t the only one to appreciate the picturesque quality of the place. I was fascinated by the fact that trees could grow on rocky cliff sides. God’s creation is amazing!
Still in retrospect I am not sure that we saw all we could have. Why do I say that? Well, I have seen pictures now of other people’s visit to Pleasant Hill Dam, and it involves many, many steps. I’m thinking we probably should have walked down those stairs. But frankly I didn’t see anything like that when we were there. Although, you could say I wasn’t looking for them either!
What we did see was very pretty. We actually walked out towards this Tower thing. (I’m sure there is a technical term for it.) I told Bobby when I saw this metal bridge that led from the roadway to it, that I was definitely going out there. He had no hesitation in his voice when he said “of course you are.” I think that he knows me pretty well, because often times he knows what I’m planning on doing before I say anything!
When Bobby and I go places like the Dam we often take time to take pictures (no surprise to anybody I’m sure). But because of a conversation we had with good friends Ron and Jan Maxwell we take what we call “senior pictures.” This involves striking a pose that would be similar to what you would find in a yearbook during your senior year or the kind that you would purchase to give out to your friends before you graduated. It’s fun for us to do this, I think for me anyhow, is because I didn’t really get that kind of senior picture experience. My pictures are O.K., but boy, when Bobby strikes a pose…phew, I love that guy! He’s so cute! The fact that the scenery was beautiful, helped, too!
Like I said in my previous post, I’m pretty sure we’ll be heading back that way. I can’t know that there is a set of stairs that I could have walked down! Plus, I bet it is even more beautiful in the summer and fall when the trees are full of leaves. You can be sure we’ll get plenty of pictures of that! (p.s. Bobby made me post my “senior picture.”)
