Campmor Guides

“I was in Campmor today and saw that they had a bunch of Chuck Dillon's Pennsylvania Grand Canyon guides, trailbooks and maps for sale. I bought the Susquehannock guide and map (by C.Dillon also). They also had the Loyalsock trail guide from the Keystone Trail Assoc. This is new; I haven't seen so much about PA offered in Campmor on previous shopping expeditions.

They had some good prices on some sleeping bags and several Walrus Trekker Tarp Mesh Inserts (all listed as slightly soiled). The Mesh inserts were all different prices, from $39 to $59. I didn't open them up to look at them, but if you are looking for one, there you go.

I met a guy who was buying stuff for his week-long trip to Montana. I should have told him about TrailTalk but my shyness took over. I just wished him a good trip.”

“Don't be shy!

8D”

“Ya did the right thing, Lyndy. It's not cool to terrorize strangers, LOL!”

“some guys love direct outspoken loud confident women. you'll see.
i see u have found some of that packaged used smell”

“Cool, will they offer it in the catalogs”

“Lyndy!!!!!!!! I was in Campmor today also!!!!! What time were you there? I was there about 7 pm. Shame on you for not letting me know you were going there when I live just a few miles from there! Bad LyndyS! Bad!”

“buy from a gearswap and they may thro it in for free.
ps, women who like to hike are kind of sparse.
what, are ya lookin?”

“news flash: chek profile then type.
still ya gotta screen folks b/4 u turn them onto your cool stuff.”

“I wonder if the PA. trails will be more crowded now with all the new trail guides at Campmor?”

“LOL, Trik1. Thanks, I kinda needed that. I guess that I will have to find some hiking young ladies for the nice outdoor guys in the area to meet.


Artex, I tried to take my kids to the Bronx Zoo today, but so did everyone else in the world. We couldn't find any parking, so after spending an hour trying to get back over the bridge, we went to lunch and then the Vitamin Store and Campmor. We were at Campmor from 4 PM to 5:30 PM. I would have called you but I didn't have any phone number with me. Sorry to have missed you. You could have seen both my daughters this time, instead of just one.”

“Bummer about the zoo being full, I've never been there. I would have been at work anyway. Buy anything cool at Campmor? I got a new headlamp, the Princeton-Tec Aurora. Light as a feather compared to my old Pekka full-sized headlamp!”

“No, I bought the Aurora on a previous expedition to Campmor, it is great! I did see that they were on sale and I'm thinking that they might make great Christmas gifts for my kids; except that I'm afraid that they would lose them. Maybe I could sew glow in the dark bandanas onto them to make them easier to find.

The Bronx Zoo is a great place. Wednesday is free (but they ask for donation equal to admission) so I guess that plus the great weather caused the big crowds. The construction on the G.W. bridge caused huge traffic backups. I can't imagine what it would be like at rush hour. I need to find a way to get to the zoo by mass transit.”

“I did get the last Terramar BodySensor mesh shirt in a color other than white (it was a nice blue). They were clearing out the summer stuff to put in the winter stock. It was $13 which is there normal price, though. I also got the Susquehannock Trail guide and maps which are west of the Black Forest Trail. Looks pretty remote. I need to read the guide and plan some trips. The mountains actually get as tall as 2500 feet. :P”

“Yeah, I love how Campmor consistantly has great deals. Nice to get an additional 10% off because I'm a NY/NJ Trail Conference member (just joined).”

“Yes, Violin talked me into that last summer. I like to read their newsletter. I haven't been to many of the parks that they mention. Have you dayhiked in Ramapo or places near there?”

“Yep, I've dayhiked in Ramapo quite a bit. At the main entrance off Rt. 202 (or is it 204?? I just know how to get there!) it gets quite crowded, but most people just take a stroll around the lake at the trailhead. There's another smaller lake following about a quarter to half mile trail that's all uphill, once you get past that, you'll hardly see anybody. Nice place, but for overnight trips, I'd rather make the trek to the Catskills.”

“It is Rt.202 and I went by there yesterday on the way home, just to see where it was (plus I love that area). Thanks for the dayhiking details.

I always thought the Cats were real crowded on wknds. Not so?”

“Have you done any of the Batona Trail, Batsto Village to Ongs Hat? Right thru the heart of the Pine Barrens.

This where I got my first lessons on camping and hiking. Great trail and a fun place. Watch out for the Jersey Devil.”

“stikmon,
is this where you can go "wilderness camping"
take your kayak up stream then campout along the shore?”

“I haven't been there in a while. I was concerned about the tick infestation and Lyme, but now they have a new program that seems to be dramatically cutting down on the Lyme infected ticks, in the Pine Barrons at least.

Discover Channel has this crazy show on the Jersey Devil. My kids got all excited about it, and I spent a lot of time trying to convince them that the thing was a legend, not real. They showed these three people (cops? park emplyees?) hunting for the Jersey Devil and talking about the signs of it they had seen. Pretty irresponsible show.”

“bet they got some sweet boars in that zoo................”

“Ahah! The Jersey Devil has crossed the bridge and is posing as Brian!”

“I believe in it. I had a close encounter once while camping with Stratusloop. Something that was way beyond normal explaination. I won't go into details...but we were scarred poopless, and we weren't on anything!

Maple Leaf, The Batsto river is a cedar river and it cuts right through the barrens...I never canoed it, but I once saw some dudes doing it and it looked wonderful. I don't live out that way any longer, but my friends still live there. I have plans to get back there next year and do it, among other things as well.”

“Well...okay Stikmon, but if you ever meet my kids you have to keep that story to yourself.”

“lyndys
check out this fun website
www.weirdnj.com

thats the difference between girls and boys
my son cant wait to go and try and find the JD
and your girls want nothing to do with it.
(im with the girls on this one)”

“Lyndy, one section I really like on the Susquehannock Trail is between Cross Fork, PA. and McConnell Road. The area is called Hammersely Wild area and the STS bisects it. There's a lot of side trails and old railroad grades go almost entirely up each hollow. Nice streams in the watershed, Bell branch, Hammersely fork, Nelson Run and Cow Run. There's also a stand of old growth hemlocks in Beech bottom hollow that's very nice too. They're located about halfway up the mountain if I remember correctly. I liked seeing what the forest used to look like before the logging era.”

“Okay, Rich, let's put it on the list! (Where did I put that list?) I have to read the guides but it was so nice today that I kept running inside to do some chores, post on Trailtalk and then run outside again. Played in the creeks this afternoon (one is called a river but you can walk across it on small rocks and not get your feet wet). We REALLY NEED RAIN!!! Where is WLD, I hear that he has been practicing the raindance.”

“It was a nice day today. I went flyfishing this morning and the water was cool enough for some good action. Actually, it was like a fall day in the mountains with a strong breeze too. I won't get used to this since it's supposed to get humid next week. Fall isn't that far away though, can't wait.”

“Richb, how late into the cold weather can one flyfish? Pardon my ignorance, I've been mildly curious about flyfishing for some time, and am cataloguing tidbits of info here and there for the day I actually decide to try it.”

“I've only done a little, but from what I have read you can fly fish as long as water is open. In AK, the fish were ravenous just before freeze up and just after breakup.”

“Pathman is right and as long as the water is open and you can fish. Sept. and October has some good dry fly fishing if we get normal rain. I've flyfished in snow squalls and temps in the 20's in winter, but I rarely fish in winter anymore. The fish don't actively feed with the water temps so low in the areas I fish. While a can go out and catch some fish in these conditions, the action isn't good enough to keep me interested. In other words, in winter, I'd rather ski, snowshoe, hike or backpack and save the fishing for April. March is one of the worst months around here to fish. May and June are the best with good consistant insect hatches and fast and furious fishing if you time it right. The heat and dry conditions of July and August can make fishing fickle. In those two months it just depends entirely on the weather.”

“I'mma heading to the Loyalsock in 6days, 18 hours. Gonna try some of the mountaintop ponds(ie Sones) if the creek is too low.”

“I love that area, Fly. Let us know how crowded it is in the summer. Have great weather!”

“You mean, like........ a trip report??? LOL”

“I saw on the local weather tonight that Sullivan county has had normal rainfall so far so the creeks may not be that bad. More storms are forecast for Mon., Tues., and Wed. so that should help too.”

“Rich and I camped at Sones Pond in January. It was somewhat frozen on top and beautiful, and we had the place to ourselves. I was curious as to how crowded that area is in the summer. I would think finding a camping spot on the weekend would be tough, unless you had a hammock that you could put anywhere.”

“One place you can camp there if you're willing to do without a fire is to follow the creek upstream that flows into Sones pond. I saw some hemlock stands in there and that usually means a somwhat open area that probably would fit a couple of tents.”

“There is camping spots down the LT from Sones near the Loyalsock (right by the Iron Bridge, or so says the LT guide book) or up at the Haystacks.

Glad to hear they've had rainfall. Some really heavy boomers last week, I imagine. I was near Benton (my sweet spot, LyndyS)two weeks ago and we had heavy weather both Fri and Sat late at night.”

“If any of you are interested in hiking the grand canyon, feel free to drop me a line. I'll come up from Tucson and we can take the south side down.”

“There's camping spots down there and I've stayed there a few times over the years. Sone's pond is about 2 miles up the mountain from the iron bridge.
Did you fish Fishing Creek when you were down in Benton or go in Fishing Creek Outfitters? I bought an Orvis 664 fly rod off them a few years ago and it's the rod I use most. Great for small streams and not super expensive.”

“Hey RichB, I've read the guide and I only found Hammersley Fork, not the other places you mentioned, but it sounds like a great trail with plentiful camping sites and water (maybe too much as in mud).”

“Hammersely Fork is the creek that the STS follows for 10 miles as it decends through Hammersely Wild Area. The other creeks may not be on your guide because they make up the entire watershed in that area and flow into Hammersely Fork. I don't remember it being any worse than any other PA trail as far as mud. It was good fishing though. I fished Hammersely Fork and Bell branch and did well.”

“Did you hike and fish, or backpack all or a section, or make a loop?”

“I've been there many times. I hiked loops from Cross Fork and McConnell Road. There's a parking area at the bottom on Hammersely Fork too. There used to be a suspension bridge, but it isn't there anymore. I mountain biked on a lot of those trails years ago when it was legal to do so. I rode my bike up to Beech Bottom Hemlocks to see the old growth trees. It was quite a climb.”

“I have to make a trip to Campmor to do some birthday shopping for my parents now that they got a motorhome. It is very small so they are interested in receiving backpacking type items. I thought a headlamp would be good. Anyway if anyone wants to meet me there in the next five days, let me know.”