Baer Rocks Day Trip Report

“Taking part in this short day hike for rehabbing TTers on the Injured Reserve List were: Geobeet, Maple Leaf, Tree Beard, and Stratus Loop (who is not on the IRL, but wanted to go along).

Not showing were Corporal Nasty (Back on the IRL after another visit to Hot Dog Johnny's. He mumbled something about a bedpost, but we know better) and LyndyS (Some sorry excuse about kids and prior commitments. What could be more important than a convocation of TTers?)

It was not a long hike, since it was Geobeet's first venture onto the A-Trail since his less than fortunate encounter with a chunk of Homewood Sandstone last summer, and Tree Beard is nursing a heel spur.

We walked the AT from the parking lot where the Bake Oven Road crosses Blue Mountain to Baer Rocks. It was a fairly nice afternoon, temps in the upper 30s. There were a few spritzes, but nothing too wet.

There was some crunchy snow left on the trail from last Tuesday's storm. It crunched underfoot as we made our way along the trail.

Nearing Baer Rocks, the trail became more rocky. Tree Beard and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and decided not to climb the rocks. Maple and Stratus did climb the rocks for the nearly 360-degree view from the top.

We sat awhile and snacked, telling trail stories and enjoying the company and the day. Then we hiked back to the parking lot, stowed gear, and drove back home.

Total distance: 2.8 miles for Geobeet and Tree Beard, and 3.0 miles for Maple and Stratus.

It was my first venture onto uneven ground. The rocks presented some stability problems. Muscles weren't quite ready for much of that. Tree Beard did well on the trip.

As we left, the cold front was just starting to blow in.

We passed quite a few northbound backpackers along the way - maybe 6-8 of them.”

“Again, sorry I couldn't make this trip, sounds like everyone had a good time. How'd Treebeard like it? Maple's always talking about how much she wants him to get out there, hope your leg and his bone spur didn't act up too much.”

“I'll let Tree Beard speak for himself, but I will let it slip that he may show up for more hikes in the future.

My foot and ankle are ready to be elevated for the night. Just some minor muscle stretches while trying to walk on wobbly rocks - it got a little sore on the return trip, but nothing that won't subside in a day or two. This is part of the rehab process.”

“It sucks having to rehab, but it's good to hear you're actually in the middle of that process now- Before you know it, you'll be dancing along the trail with the rest of us fools.”

“Great to hear that the injured are returning to the trail!”

“Thanks, it was great to be on the trail. Slowly but surely, the world of the living returns.”

“...and again thanks for allowing me to join...short and sweet but I had a good time and I enjoyed the company...I gotta say...Treebeard is a trooper...the man was in some serious pain...he deserves a purple heart!”

“Glad to hear you all had a great day!”

“Gotta say thanx to Geo and Stratus for their encouraging words on my maiden TT mission today. Your kindness is mucho appreciated and your words are no exaggeration. Despite the pain, it was great meeting you and launching the first of hopefully many ventures. Only thing lacking from the day was missing out on the company of the good Corporal. But we shall soon fix that. Thanx again, my friends.”

“I'm paying for it today. Ankle muscles are tight as a drum. Guess I'll stay home, dry some more apples, and stay off the footsie as much as possible. It will be a small price to pay for getting back on the A-Trail.”

“sorry to hear your in some pain!
i had a great time. It was mine and treebeards first hiking trip together (other then with the cub scouts) and I loved every min of it! I knew this would be perfect for him. I knew it would be nice and slow and easy!
Thanks guys for making it worth the drive!
Sat. turned out to be great, with everything planned.
Corp you still owe us a drink!”

“Good day to be a couch potato and watch football all day long!!!”

“Good day to be a couch potato and watch football all day long!!!”

“Good day to be a couch potato and watch football all day long!!!”

“Good day to be a couch potato and watch football all day long!!!”

“Coooool!!!!!”

“yes what tango said and said and said and said!

hick-up! has your pc been drinking again?”

“Hey Tango, what did you do with yourself yesterday? Watch any football?”

“Nope watched the Pens lose to the Bruins. Watched the (new) Grinch who stole Christmas! Had fun with friends. ATE alot, and generally was very thankful for my affluence.

Heard Pitt lost to WVU. Didn't hear who Penn St played and what happened.

But I am a bigger hockey fan!!! I am going to watch the Steelers today at a sports bar. Hope they win!!”

“State Penn's season ended a week earlier. The only college game left on my schedule is Army-Navy next Saturday at Grunts Stadium in East Rutherford (why do they call them New Yoik teams when they play in New Landfill?).

I will be there. If Army wins, we get bragging rights over the squids for another year, and if we lose we might just get a coach that knows something about the sport. Frankly, even if Army wins they should begin shopping for a coach.

What has all of this to do with Baer Rocks? Guess I'm stuck at home after yesterday's workout. That must be it.”

“Welcome back to the trails, Geobeet!”

“Thanks Santartex. It was great to be back. Hadn't worn the hiking boots since Aug. 23, when they were muddy from traipsing through a boggy area on the Sods. The snow and ice cleaned some of the mud off. Looking forward to spring.”

“Shoot, that's the best way to clean boots.

Geo takes the A-Trail........

Choo.....Choo......”

“waitin for the photo's. See, stratusloop, they aren't all a bunch of wackos....only some of em.”

“The entire ridge of Blue Mountain at Baer Rocks is composed of the Shawangunk Formation, which corresponds to the Tuscarora Formation of center and western Pa. and down into Virginia and West Virginia.

The Shawangunk/Tuscarora Formation is a hard sandstone or quartzite which is the major ridge-forming rock of the Ridge and Valley geologic province. Softer rock above and below the Shawangunk has eroded, but the harder Shawangunk persists as a ridge we know as Blue Mountain. The Shawangunk Formation was formed as sand deposits in a shallow inland sea roughly 430 million years ago. It was raised as rock when what is now North America collided with what is now northwest Africa between 320 and 240 million years ago.

The most recent continental glaciation (The Wisconsin) ended just north of Blue Mountain, leaving a ridge of gravel known as a terminal moraine. This ridge formed where the glacier ended, as gravel was dropped by melting ice. This ridge is being exploited commercially from many sand and gravel pits, one of which is visible from Baer Rocks to the northwest.

The Shawangunk sandstone was subjected to fracturing during and after the Wisconsin Glaciation, which ended roughly 11,000 years ago. Freeze/thaw continues to break up the rock today.

South of Blue Mountain lies the Great Valley, which runs the length of the Appalachians. The Great Valley lies between igneous metamorphic rocks of the Blue Ridge Province and the Reading Prong. The Reading Prong is the ridge south of Allentown and Bethlehem.

The Great Valley is known locally as the Lehigh Valley. Farther west in Pennsylvania it is the Cumberland Valley, and in West Virginia and Virginia it is the Shenandoah Valley. Geologically, the Great Valley is underlain by limestone. Limestone is where caverns occur. Crystal Cave in Kutztown and Lost River Caverns in Hellertown are two commercial caverns located in or near this belt of limestone.

Farther north of Baer Rocks lies the anthracite field of Pennsylvania, which supplied fuel to nearly all the East Coast from the mid-19th through mid-20th Century.”

“What's this? You actually broke your leg on my birthday? This sounds worse than bad luck, my birthday being so special of a day, and all.

Glad that you had a hike with no misadventures. Sorry that I missed meeting Treebeard and Stratusloop. Someday I will have fewer kid committments, but the basketball is important, it is the first team sport that Tara has signed up for. Being rather timid, this is a real milestone for her, and I had to go and see what we need to work on in our "extra" practices at the Ymca. The coaches were so good with the kids. We got lucky, because some coaches are kind of scary.”

“I was just joshing you Lyndy. You have your priorities straight.

The break came on the 25th just after 8 a.m. The last hike I took on that trip was on the 23rd. On the 24th we went down to Spruce Knob and I wore my sneakers because my boots were all muddy.

My father's birthday was Aug. 23.”

“ok here are some photos. sorry they took so long to get up but its been a busy day.

it was short but very sweet!

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/mapleleafnyc/lst?.dir=/Baer+Mt.+Day+Hike+Nov+2002&.view=t”

“Ummm, the link doesn't work Maple. It gives an error message thus:

The File You Are Looking For Is Inaccessible.

Please sign in and try again or check with the owner of the file.”

“ok try clicking on my name and then follow the link to my pics then go to Baer Mt trip.
hay its worth all the work”

“The Baer Rocks trip isn't there.”

“Nope, that is the same as the one I got clicking your name. Only seven files there, and Baer Rocks is not one of them.”

“ok try again, i had it on private, sorry”

“Cool pics! Damn Geo, look at that beard- I couldn't recognize you there for a second... Go into witness protection over that squirrel, or what?”

“Trying to keep those racy pix of you and treebeard off the net, I know.”

“Good pictures, Mapleleaf. It looks like a road rather than the AT. The rocks were cool, like they had been cut and restacked.”

“it was an easy hike. the trail was very wide and had little rocks. but further up the trail became very rocky. thats when geo and treebeard ook a rest.”

“That portion of the trail, as it does in many places in Pa., follows old woods roads. At Baer Rocks the trail becomes rockier and the trail narrower, continuing southward over the Knife Edge and beyond before coming back onto an old woods road the rest of the way to 309.

The road portions are welcome rests from the rest of the rocks. The Shawangunk/Tuscarora Formation is what gives Rocksylvania its bad name among through-hikers.”

“great photos...looks like a great time...and a bit warm weather to make the day even nicer.”

“It was a fun day. Good meeting Geobeet and Stratusloop. And for those that require a pic to be posted to prove one's existence, "I AM NOT A TROLL." Hope to meet more of you on future hikes.”

“Good pics! Nice to see that treebeard is not just a figment of Maple's imagination.

Unless, of course, the pictures are of some guy y'all accosted on the AT that day...”

“TROLL

I have no idea who the hell he is!”

“We know he's not your guardian angel. Or, if he is, he's doing a lousy job of it.”

“Maple's been having more encounters with dead turkeys.”

“well at least I didnt hurt my back because of a laundry bag!!
right treebeard?”

“OMG, they're both like that?”

“Right! You found me out. I am like that inept angel from "Heaven Can Wait."”

“At least they could have given me an easier first assignment as an angel.”