Pennsy's BFT ECT

“Pennsy Hiker has announced that he will be organizing a spring trip on Pennsylvania's Black Forest Trail, sometime this spring.

Isn't that what you said, Pennsy? ;-)

Seemed like it oughtta have its own thread, so here 'tis.

Already on the list are:
- Pennsy
- landsurfer
- Splash
- RichB
- me
- my son Ian”

“Here are a couple of Trip Reports from 3 years ago...

TR 1

TR 1

And here's a map (not exactly!) that leads to a description (not exactly!) of the trail...

"A 42 mile trail very steep in sections."”

“what time in spring, my wife and I may want to come as well!”

“Details please.”

“Hee heee...

There are no details. I started this thread based on a casual remark Pennsy made on the "PA. Grand canyon WRT" thread. Pennsy probably doesn't even know yet that he is responsible for an official ECT trip.

So feel free to suggest duration, dates, etc.”

“oh..guess your going to be in trouble. Yeah..OK, I remember now....Pennsy also said that Fritz was going to show his piano talent and pack in a small piano!”

“while in the area, i suggest that you guys hike the golden eagle trail, it's about an 8-9 mile loop with great vistas, small waterfalls, cascades and scenic stream side hiking. the vista on the bob webber trail is also worth checking out.”

“I have planned this year differently so I can alloow for more weekend trips like this.”

“HA!!!! Yep, your right Adv... Fritz is in trouble. LOL! Geez, just because I haven't called him for lunch yet.

Oh yeah, I'm just the guy you want leading this trip - new to the sport who has only done a section of the BFT. ;-)

I do intend to do the whole trail in the Spring and I will "help" if I can. How's that?”

“Pennsy, it is not like you are Captain Kirk, going where no man has gone before. I planned a TT group hike of the BFT as my first real backpacking trip, for this past Sept. 28-30. The section we picked was suggested by RichB since he had done it before, but as organizer, I emailed everyone to death until they all changed their e-addresses and half of the group backed out. Surely, as organizer of a Spring ECT, you can do no worse! (just kidding, most everone was still talking to me in October)”

“we have time to work out the details
Wheres Silver? I think we can scrape up enough money for some professional photo's.”

“This already sounds like a great trip. Pennsy, all you really need to do is pick out a date for the hike and everything else will fall into place.”

“Yeah, what rich said!”

“Spring trip on the BFT sounds great! But Spring seems so far away -- I'm still gearing up for snowshoes mode.

landsurfer, free photo services next time to all Boy Scouts of America, and their families and friends.”

“Captain Kirk, Splash? Damn it Jim, I'm a hiker, not a planner!! ;-)

As far as a date goes, I'm game for anytime except the last week in May. This can be a 'team' effort because there are logistics I would sure need some help with. One question would be parking - at the trail head, there was only a pulloff with room for a few vehicles.

Just for the heck of it, how's early May, like the 2nd-5th?”

“That won't be a problem since there's plenty of parking spots on Rt. 44. April or early May should be OK. What we would want to avoid out there is the May black fly hatch. They are absolutely brutal and I was bitten so bad one year fishing Slate Run that I left the area and fished the Loyalsock instead. The date was May 14, 1999 when I was there. One of the locals I talked to said they hatch for about 2 weeks. We can always call Slate Run Tackle shop and find out when to avoid the black flies.”

“Hey Silver,
Just busten ya about the photo's.
I think you take great pics, and I would be honored to appear in your on line Photo gallery.

Pennsy,
Just do it! It wil be a great hike
and a good way to learn from some real veterans.”

“Hey! Looks like its gonna work. Ain't no stoppin' this hike from happening now!

Pennsy, you don't really have to do anything...this trip's gonna come together and you'll get the credit for it.

One issue will be that some of us won't have enough days to do the whole trail, so we'll have to figure out how to manage multiple starting and stopping points. How many days, Pennsy, do you think you'd want to take, to do the whole thing? Anyone else have thoughts on this?

RichB, thanks for the tip about the black flies. Running into them would definitely put a damper on the fun. (By the way, how did your pics from WRT last fall come out?)”

“Depending on the time, I'd be up for it. Could probably take off four or five days if it doesn't mess up any other social engagements. Son's getting married in DC over Memorial Day, but I don't think a holiday weekend's the best time to hit the trail, anyway.

Given the steep up and down that we saw last time, we'd probably need at least four days to do the whole thing.

I agree with one and all re black flies. Spent four days canoeing in the Daks last Spring and spent 24/7 swatting - no-see-ums, black flies, deer flies, horse flies, skeeters. They bit through bug shirts, flew through fire smoke, and thought DEET was BBQ sauce. Was not at all pleasant.

Keep me posted on plans. BTW, whatever happened to M&M - haven't seen her post since the last BFT trip. And where's Karl?”

“Fritz, The pictures are still in my camera since I didn't finish the roll yet. When I do and get them developed and I'll let you know and post them on my picture trail site. Steiny is right about memorial day since the BFT is a popular trail it would be way too crowded then. As long as we schedule around the arrival of the black flies anything will work for me. I remember them to be so bad that they were coming into the open window of my van after me. We drove down to the Manor Hotel for some refreshments and had to stay inside to escape the attack.”

“What about early April?”

“If you go the weekend of Apr 6, I'll have to skip this one. I'm going to LA for my nephew's christening. Then we'll be looking for hiking and sightseeing in California for the week afterwards. I'll start a thread to gather info in March. The last weekend in March is Easter. I guess that only leaves me with the last two weekends in April before black fly season. So if you all go to the BFT trail in early April, then I'd like to plan another group trip elsewhere in central PA for April 20 or 27.”

“A better trail description and a source for maps, here.”

“The northern and northwestern portions of the BFT are more mellow (though nonetheless enjoyable) than some of those up-down-up-down southern and eastern stretches. The vistas are still excellent, though not as frequent as the section we did last Fall. Plenty of established campsites and adequate streams along the way too. For those who can't do the entire trail, there are more than enough optional routes that can be utilized to hook up with - and/or bail out from - the rest of the group as per individual schedules.”

“Hey Splash - this is why I just tossed a suggested date. This is good. By the time everyone interested points out the dates they CAN'T make, we'll probably be left with one weekend. That will be the date. How's that?

Fritz - (by the way, you OWE me lunch for this! haha), it's hard for me to say how many days will be needed for this since I only did the one section. But like M_Silver said, there are bailouts. I'm guessing 4 days?

Middle April? 18th to 21st or 22nd? Beat the May black flies, Mother's Day and late May which I cannot make.”

“Sounds good Pennsy. What I did on my trip planning was to find out how many could make each weekend and then choose the one with the most participants. Of course then some people back out due to unforeseen things, and you end up with a group not too big for the amount of campsite space available. We had some luck, too, like at the last minute we decided to carry water and camp at the top of Hemlock mountain, and that camping area was dry, large enough for a crowd, and had a good vista. The next night we camped deep in a hollow, by a good sized run or creek. There were a decent number of campsites there too. Our first choice for that night had only one or two flat spots, so our group was too big for it and we moved on. But a lot of camping areas are small due to lack of flat areas near creeks deep in hollows. A large group may need to camp split up, with half moving on to the next camping area. Just my .02. MSilver has a journal that he kept relating to camping areas.”

“Splash made a lot of good points here and she really learned a lot about trip planning.”

“That weekend probably won't work for me. Its my Daughters birthdayon the 20th. I have to check and see if she will be in from college.”

“landsurfer, which weekends work for you?”

“Looks like the best chances are the last weekend of April, or the first and third weekends of May.If your looking to start on a Thursday to make it a 4 day trek, that shouldn't be a problem.Or a Friday to a Monday. Just so I'm back for Tuesday . Thats my wifes B-day.”

“That would be Tuesday ,April 30 I'm refering to.If Pennsy were to pick that weekend.”

“So when is this trip going to be?
Who will it be?”

“It kinda looks like May will be a bad month for this. I'm limited to the first 2 weeks which could be nasty for the black flies. There are some conflicts in April but I haven't heard any no no's about late April yet.

Of course nothing is written in stone but how about Thurs April 25th thru Sunday April 28th, and leaving Monday available as well? The BFT is 42 miles and pretty rugged so I have to believe it would take a group a good 4 full days.”

“I see no problem planning it for that weekend. I have classes on Friday so I would have to let you know last minute depending if I can skip that day.

If not I think M Silver mentioned that there were spots along the trail that one could meet up?”

“M Silver, RichB, and some others (Steiny I think) know the area pretty well. There should be options for those starting late or those who have to leave early.”

“I think jmitch knows this area also.”

“the BFT is very rugged, lots of ascents and descents. there are numerous connector and spur trails enabling you to make your hike considerably shorter, or to catch up with a group that is ahead of you. these side trails are shown on the BFT trail map.”

“Date sounds good to me as of now. I could probably be there by mid-day Thursday. Y'all plan on hiking it clockwise or counterclockwise, and where do plan to start? I'll probably jump in where we left the trail (or where we started). Much as I liked Hemlock Mountain, I can do without that stretch of up and down a second time.”

“if you have room for one more, I'm interested as well. I've hiked with landsurfer on WRT meet up with steiny, m.silver and splash with the scouts. i have to check dates and my schedule. may have to meet up with you on the trail.”

“you did say free photo services to the scouts right?”

“So far so good on Thurs April 25-28/29 but still waiting to hear from a few, like Fritzy who bamboozled me into this. ;o)
I think a few interested in this trip (Splash, Fritz) are going on the Florida ECT trip this week so we'll wait a bit to confirm a date.

Once the date is confirmed, we can discuss logistics, like starting point, clockwise/counter etc. Sound ok?

Adventurist - skip class! Maybe we can talk the "G's" into this trip.”

“Sounds like its all coming together Pennsey hiker. I saw the pics of your trip with AmyG in the Adirondacs.I bet it was a great trek.wished I were there!!
I will keep checking in for more details.”

“That timeframe is good for me. BTW, I would have loved to do the Florida ECT, but couldn't make it. I got a kick out of Steiny's statement that he would just as soon skip the Hemlock mountain and Slate Run climb that we already did, because of too many ups and downs. As I recall, he didn't have any trouble with those climbs, and spent most of the day sleeping, waiting for some of us slower folks. But those of you who haven't done that section, it was really beautiful on the ridges, so the climbs were worth it. I will be one of those trying to make a smaller loop. I have a detailed map that I got from Pinecreek Outfitters that shows the trail and all the connecting trails and roads. I have to take some time to look at it.

So we have me, Pennsy, RichB, Steiny, MSilver, landsurfer and fineshine joining this trip? Maybe Fritz and his son? Anyone else?”

“I have 2 doctor appointments on that Thursday so I'll have to start out on Friday morning and catch up to everyone. I'll just have to find out where everyone else might be on Friday morning. I may stay until Tuesday and finish the whole trail.”

“I should have said maybe stay until Monday to complete the whole trail.”

“"Bamboozle?"

Pennsy, that's not the kind of gratitude I expect...after all, if I hadn't encouraged you a little, this trip probably wouldn't be happening!

(Or maybe it would, who knows...)

Anyhow, the weekend of 4/25-28 sounds fine to me. I have nothing planned that far in advance. The only thing I'll have to figure out is whether Ian can afford to miss a day or two of school.

But I'm pretty sure I'm coming whether he is able to come or not.”

“those dates are looking good for me at this point. I'll keep you up to date as time gets closer. Barring a major event I should be able to make it.”

“finewhine,

Yup that's right -- free picture-taking services for the Scouts on this trip.”

“Fritzy - I've got yer gratitude, right......! ;-)

Hey Rich, the dates aren't solid yet so perhaps a Fri-Mon/Tues will work just as well as a Thurs-Sun/Mon?

BTW Fritz, when you leaving for Florida? I want to get that lunch you owe me.”

“Leaving early Friday morning...any day except Friday...I've got ten bucks burning a hole in my pocket.

Call me!”