Three Rivers this, three rivers that.
Western Pennsylvania is blessed with many more rivers, perhaps none of them as environmentally and culturally rich as the Youghiogheny.
It’s pronounced “yawk-a-gainey” or shortened to the “yawk,” from a Lenape word that means “water following in a contrary direction.”
That’s according to the Mountain Watershed Association, which protects the 134-mile-long tributary of the Monongahela River, one of the city’s three, that has its headwaters in the Allegheny Mountains of Maryland and West Virginia.
Protecting it is the cause that’s supported by the group’s Defend the Yough party, the 15th edition of which begins at 2 p.m. and goes until at least 11 p.m. Thursday at the Falls City Pub in Ohiopyle, Fayette County.
That postcard-pretty town is world famous as a center for rafting and kayaking, but white water is just one of the Yough’s many attractions, which also include the Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, Great Allegheny Passage trail on one side and an Amtrak passenger train route on the other. That stretch just southeast of Pittsburgh is full of scenery, old coal patch towns and state parks, canoe launches and trout fishing.
You can help keep it epic by supporting the MWA and the Youghiogheny Waterkeeper at this party, tickets for which are $20. That donation gets you a ticket for a drink, food (guests are welcome to bring a covered dish), a chance at a door prize, and live music from local musicians Randy Myers, Hemlock, Meadow Run, and Ferncliff Collective. There’s also a silent auction of locally made art including pottery, stained glass, photography, and custom woodworking, plus outdoor gear donated by Patagonia, Astral, Immersion Research and other ethical outdoor brands.
For more information and a link to buy tickets, visit https://mtwatershed.com/event/15th-annual-yough-defense-party/.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
