Loyalhanna Lake in New Alexendria, Pa
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| The Loyalhanna dam from lake level. |
Loyalhanna Lake is my most visited lake simply because it is the closest to my house in Greensburg, Pa. Only a 24.5 minute drive from my driveway, it is an excellent place to go catch a late afternoon paddle after working all day. This is not a huge lake by any means, but it is big enough to warrant exploration. Boats up to 20 HP are allowed on the lake, but they stay out of the way of paddlers and create some waves that you can play in after they go by. From the beach boat launch ($3 put-in fee done by the honor code) if you go left, that is the more kayak friendly waters as it is usually too shallow for pontoon boats to travel far (the fishing is also better this way too!) If you hug the left hand side of the coast it will take you to a split in the lake. Staying to the left takes you by some tall cliffs to kayak beside that eventually leads to the right side of the peninsula, and if the lake is high enough, you can follow the stream all the way to route 22 (although it gets very confusing and difficult to find the right outlet). If you head right off the boat launch, there is a lot more open water and consequently more motorized boats. The lake is calm enough that you can cross it without worry though and the boaters are usually nice enough to not speed by you when doing so. If you continue down the right hand side it will eventually take you to the Loyalhanna dam (pictured above) which is pretty cool to see from the cockpit of a kayak. There is a small beach on the left that is easy to get in and out of and is an excellent place to take a lunch break or cool off with a swim. This lake is pretty clean and big boats do not come down this close to the dam. The dam was built during the great depression for flooding control in the area, and just looking at it makes you wonder how much mankind has influenced nature. Then again without the dam, I would not have the lake to paddle on, so it is an interesting trade-off. If you hug the left hand side instead of the right hand side after going right from the boat launch, it eventually leads to a dead end, but I have had much fun paddling along the coast and catching glimpses of the wildlife. There was (what I think anyways) a blue heron nesting directly out and to the left a bit from the boat launch that I followed around for the better part of the day trying to get a picture of, which I didn't, but I did have the pleasure of seeing her swoop down and pick up a fish right from the top of the water one day, it was an incredible feat to have seen in person! One other time after a heavy rainfall, my friend Aaron and I went out for long paddle which turned out to be an awesome adventure because the water was so high we could literally paddle through the trees. We had a great time kayaking where we would normally be walking and were forced to retreat as heavy rain soon forced us back to the car as we attempted to outrun a storm we saw accumulating behind our backs. As soon as we got back to the car it began to thunder so we got out just in the nick of time. Check out all my photos from this tucked in lake in the gallery tab.
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