PA Trip Soon?

“I'm going to try real hard to make it, but can't be definite. You're parking at the juncture of Quehanna Highway and Wykoff Road, at the natural area? and you're hiking counterclockwise to Arch Spring?

ENS- you'll like this trail- beautiful streams, big rocks, rhododendron jungles, and a real sense of wilderness.”

“that's the plan. If we see ya at the start, maybe we can figure out a shuttle a little ways up the Quehanna hwy near the beaver dam for a Sunday finish.”

“Thunderswamp had 2.6 inches of rain. It will be swampy. Do we skip that stream crossing or what ? Shorten the hike and take our time ?
Talk to me people.”

“CP, did you get the ultra new bivy?

if you're starting later than the rest of the group, you might be skipping the saw creek crossing altogether (not an airplane reference).”

“Bivy in hand! And will be tested this weekend.

I'll make the 9am meet time. Just worried about the flooding. The river and creeks by my house are overflowing and areas by stroudsburg got it worse.”

“CP - I say we at least look at the stream before making a decision. I think it's only a mile or so from the trailhead. If it's bad, we can go back, shuttle a car to the northen parking area and improvise. Who knows, maybe something's been built across the stream since we were there in the spring.

ENS - Surely, you can't be serious?”

“Poo! the repair job failed and the waders still leak. Plan B - Teva water shoes.”

“Wuddayuh, backpackers or something?”

“I may just put on the croc's and jump in. We should keep our pants dry by removing them before crossing.
Spindlette should go first.
Pennsy your camera working ?”

“lol crickets chirping

you guys are going have semi warm weather tomorrow, so a quick debooting and stream crossing may not be sooo bad as long as your pants stay dry.

Pennsy - I can't be serious with out my beer.”

“the weather seems to shaped up on the QT for this weekend, only a slight chance of snow tomorrow night. The weather looks nice for the TST.”

“how did the thunderswamp crowd make with the creek crossings? The Quehanna was raging pretty good and no bridges. Heath fell in at one point.”

“Gotta wait for our trip leader to write the report.
But, Saw creek was a river. We did not cross.”

“That's the last time I hike with these crazy boneheads. Them crazy TST hills 'bout kicked my arse!”

“We had to cross some rivers on the Quehanna and we got wet doing it. Heath tried to cross a log and it broke in half while he was out on it and he fell in. It was funny, but could have been dangerous.”

“next time we'll bring supplemental oxygen for Granola Dude.

Saw Creek was insane and too dangerous for the group to cross it with backpacks. Naturally, one of the boneheads tried it anyway and got across without gear, but the smart move was to backtrack to the trailhead.

We drove up to the northern parking area and improvised from there. We still had plenty of stream crossings to deal with, including some interesting homemade bonehead bridges, but no one drowned.

We all had a lot of fun though, but here's the bad news. There was a "no tresspassing" sign at our beloved secret campsite. After looking at the map, it appears that the site is just outside the state forest boundry and in private land. :o( We'll have to camp elsewehere on future trips.

Bonehead move of the trip: I remembered to bring my camera (YAY!) but forgot the battery (BOO!).

Now, where is our leader Spindlette with a real trip report?”

“wow, that is a bummer about the campsite.. that was one of my favorite sites anywhere. Where did you guys end up camping? Did crazypace dig his new digs?”

“We camped right below the sign. Our way of sticking it to the man !!

Bivy worked perfect !! Dry sleeping bag for once.”

“oh and Pennsy, you would have been proud. I successfully made turkey on the trail, including the gravy and I remembered to take a cup. I also made an outstanding batch of hot TNT, bobo would have been proud. I successfully and flawlessly lighted my whisperlight 3 out of 4 times. The 4th time I produced the largest fire cloud ever and managed to singe some of my hair, eyebrows, arm hair and what not, but was not injrd.

We also beat out the Link Trail trip for longest sleep. After several cups of hot TNT, Heath and I sacked out at 630 Saturday night and didn't get up until 7am on Sunday morning.

The Quehanna is pretty nice. I think it's a good fall trail. It's pretty swampy, so I wouldn't want to hike it in the summer.”

“Oh, and there was a band playing in the woods. Led Zep, The Doors, and things we couldnt make out, like the banging on pot drum solo.
Point is - They sucked. They were about 50 yards from us, by the creek.”

“the only sound heard on the Quehanna was that of the drafts coming down from the plateau. The air was still and calm and occasionally, we heard some birds or the slight whisps of dead dried leaves due to a breeze through the trees. We saw a few deer run off into the woods and rather large porcupine came out of his rock ranch to check us out and then furled up his quills and slowly strolled back into from where he came. He was actually a cute lil guy. I didn't get too close.

The meadows of the Quehanna were very pretty and offered up different shades of rust. It was very different from what you normally see in Pennsylvania. I also noticed that there were some spruce type trees that you normally see in higher elevations in the east. I wonder if it's the northerly and semi high elevation of the Quehanna Plateau.

The drafts were very colorful with the vibrant glades of rhodes and moss covered rocks and white cascading streams. Some of the streams draining the drafts were non-stop cascades.”

“The air WAS mighty thin up there at 800'. Supplemental O2 is a good idea.”

“Now, where is our leader Spindlette with a real trip report?” Pennsy

Keep your knickers on, I'm working on it. Did you want that here or in it's own thread?”

“Never mind, you're getting it here before my 'puter does something weird...”

“We broke the Curse, Thunderswamped a virgin, and didn’t go swimming.

Saturday morning at the Thunderswamp trailhead: no_granola and I returned from a breakfast run to find a smiling Pennsy getting ready to hike.
We say our hellos and chat for a bit. Mulling over the impending meeting with Saw Creek and the whereabouts of a slightly late CrazyPace.

Not a half breath after mentioning his name CrazyPace rolls into the lot, hard on the bumper of a semi with a max speed of 20mph.

We grab packs and begin the 1.3 mile stroll on down to Saw Creek to see if crossing it can be done. It was huge for Saw Creek. Out of its banks and running amok all over the place.

So we walk downstream. Doesn’t look good. Walk upstream. Doesn’t look real good either but at least it’s more shallow. So we watch it for a bit, trying to decide if it’s do-able. Pennsy ponies up the courage to “test” it for the group. (Go Pennsy!) He changes into water shoes, rolls up his pants (Girls,exposing some rather shapely gams! ), takes CrazyPace’s poles and wades off into the rushing waters.

It was a tense moment. Each step taking him deeper and deeper into the raging torrent. The water crested his knees, forgoodnesssake!
Some careful stepping and skillful pole use brought him safely to the small, rooty island one third of the way across. His resolve strengthened and he again stepped off into the torrent in hopes of reaching the next small slip of land further on. He teeter’d, he tottered, he squealed a bit when the water rose a little too high…but by the grace of good fortune, he made it!

Meanwhile, back on the bank, a plan was being hatched to safely transfer all the gear across the deluge by means of rope, rock, and a wet Swiss Army knife. At some point the Common Sense Fairy paid our group an unexpected visit and we realized that the time involved for the execution of The Plan would negatively impact our ability to make camp by dark.

A new Plan was hatched, Pennsy safely made his way back to our side of the flood, and the group hiked the 1.3 miles back to the parking lot. CrazyPace shuttled us in extraordinary comfort to the other lot north on 402 and we hiked the red trail back down to the Thunderswamp. Unfortunately missing the favored Red Rock Run section of trail. At least we were dry.

The rest of Saturdays hike was a grueling march of near bushwacking, wobbling rocks, blowdown navigation, treacherous water crossings, and nearly 200 feet of elevation gain/loss. I don’t know how we made it. Without each others encouragement driving us onward we probably wouldn’t have.

We made it to camp. That’s the story and I’m sticking to it. We had to brave contact with the natives to get there, but By Golly we made it. Once firewood was collected and bivies/tents pitched we all settled in to a lovely evening of eating, drinking, and cursing the cloudy skies. We had been hoping to see a full display of the due meteor shower but the sky remained opaque until a half hour before we retired for the night. No meteors for us.
We were, however, treated to the musical stylings of our native neighbors which included a horrendous butchering of Jim Morrison…

The next morning broke cloudy and cool. Good hiking weather for the exhausting day ahead of us. We ate our breakfasts, forced coffee on Pennsy, and got on with the business of packing up.

We were looking at some seriously hard trail, mostly uphill, and we gave some almost serious thought to roping-up for the climb ahead. Over the next 2 and a half miles we navigated sharp pointy rocks, slippery mud-goo, another raging water crossing, and 300 feet of gain. That summit was a blessed moment! We couldn’t savor it long though, as with little time to acclimate we all were feeling the effects of the altitude. No_granola might have mentioned hypoxia…

The last obstacle in sight…the road. Pennsy, braving possible post-church traffic at his own peril, guided us safely across. After a couple years off attempted hikes that were bailed upon for one reason or another Pennsy and I completed a FULL hike together, breaking The Curse. We are not sure what comes next but we’re pretty sure we won’t need to involve Bubba again any time soon.

NoGranola has been officially Thunderswamped. Except for that Red Rock Run bit…which needs doing. Perhaps when it’s much more dangerous, like spring!

What I learned on this trip:

Tarps are too heavy for ultralight backpackers.
5 pound cameras are not. With or without batteries.
Hold one end of the rope before you toss the weighted end.
There are lots of ways to cook road-kill possum.
ALL males snicker when you mention morning wood.
Universally, all morning WOOD is hard WOOD.
ENS is an endless source of entertainment.
Never, EVER say “avalanche” around Pennsy.
Do not long jump with a pack on.
Do not attempt Ninja Stealth maneuvers in reflective clothing.
“No Tresspassing” is open to interpretation.
last edited: 11/20/06 9:45:20 PM”

“From the resident and absent gimp....
Sounds like I made a good decision... hard as it was.
But it also sounds like fun.
Maybe in the spring I can get out again. I don't have the cold weather gear for much winter camping.”

“Hey Ramblinrev, let us know when you're ready.

I finally got the pics up. Stoopid webshots.>;[

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/555803792RXjzqe”

“Sounds like it was a fun trip and having Pennsy cross Saw Creek twice was simply awesome.”

“Pennsy is totally a team player. Bit the bullet for the group. That water was chilly!”

“Most excellent and amusing TR Spindle! If I wasn't working I would have tried to be there. I prolly wouldn't have, but I would have tried! This family/job thing really gets in the way of my hiking schedule. Nuts!”

“Pretty pictures. Pennsy has the sexiest legs ever.”

“I've been wanting to do a trip to Minister Creek. Is there a lot of snow there in the winter?”

“Nigal--

ANF is just below Lake Erie. Think lake effect.

Is this an open invite to all TTers. It's only about 3 miles to the Triple Fork campground . . . could easily turn into a drunken mess of a weekend.”

“Nigal,

Minister Creek isn't particularly snowy, but if the ANF has snow, you can expect it there.

Very nice loop trail, only about 7 miles, but it connects with the NCT. Huge rock outcrops, crevasses, great vista and little caves. Very nice streams and great campsites.”

“Great pics- Saw Creek was huge!”

“Nice trip report and pictures. I have some pictures of Saw Creek from the spring of 2004 trip and the creek looks swollen to 3 times the size it was then from the recent rain. I think they said over 3 inches of rain fell in the Poconos.”

““Most excellent and amusing TR Spindle! If I wasn't working I would have tried to be there. I prolly wouldn't have, but I would have tried! This family/job thing really gets in the way of my hiking schedule. Nuts!” BackSlacker

Dratted family/jobs are a drain on a persons trail time. It's a travesty! Wish you could have made it.

Thanks. We had entirely too much fun for such a short hike. :)”

““Great pics- Saw Creek was huge!” jmitch

Thanks. Yeah, it was all over the place. Wicked amounts of water.

We could have crossed it, if we really had to, but no sense in risking a soaking for an overnight.”

“Great report and pics, Spindle! Dang, you really learned a lot on this trip, eh? I didn't know we were so educational. You may call me Professor Pennsy.

I was bamboozled into crossing Saw Creek! They all said "you go first and we'll be right behind you."”

“wow, I got to write that word down.. bamboozled.


how did I provide so much entertainment when I wasn't there? I mean, afterall, let's be serious. I am totally serious. Where's my beer?”

“Professor Pennsy, you know we all wanna be you right? ;)

"bamboozled" my Irish backside. Unless "I'll go!" was prompted by some mysterious form of mind control.

ENS, you were completely there in spirit.”

“Professor Pennsy PhD:
Chief Bonehead
Creek-crosser Extraordinaire”

“I plan on day-hiking the AT from Port Clinton to Windsor Furnace and then up over Pulpit Rock, Pinnacle and to the helipad. From there take the Hamburg Reservoir Trail back down to Windsor Furnace. Total hike will be aproximately 15 miles, with 2 good 1000 foot climbs and one lesser climb, not sure of the elevation. This is a training hike and the weather looks ok this weekend.

I plan to do this on Sunday. Meeting time will be at 930am on Sunday morning at the Windsor Furnace Parking lot at the Hamburg Reservoir. From there we will shuttle to Port Clinton trailhead on Rt 61 and start hiking by 10am.

Post hike lunch will be at the Port Clinton Hotel.”

“Interesting thought, but I'm expecting a visit from the in-laws next weekend.”

“ENS- lets dayhike the loyalsock-link loop. All the falls should be nice.

Eat at Forksville Hotel.

Or we can shuttle cars and hike a stretch of the AT- maybe somewhere from lehigh gap to Eckville.”

“Mmm...Forksville Inn biscuits and gravy...drool...

Oh....stupid plans on Sunday keeping me from going...”

“Do you guys have anything going on for the long New Years weekend?”

“theres a backpacking trip in Rocky Mtn National Park over New Years - leaving sat morn the 30th returning for beer and cheeseburgers on the 1st!

fly out here on Friday before, unless yer chicken!”

“No I'm a turkey. Thanks for the invite, but that's a little more traveling than I was looking for.”

“no prob - i's teasing you guys anyway. Sounds like a great dayhike ENS has planned there.”