October With the Hawks

“Ok, got that Friday off, I'm in!


Hawk Me Baby!!!!”

“yay! : )”

“I'm sure that I will be there. Live right down the road.”

“yea you do. no excuses.”

“trips page is updated.”

“At this point it's more likely that I'll meet up with everyone on Sat.”

“I'm into the group thing. (get your mind out of the gutter) I'd hike with the whole crowd, or just a few, whatever! Scorchy, your plan sounds cool. What's the total mileage, and I would need directions to the shelter, or trail head, if you want to meet there and hike to the shelter as a group.”

“well the mileage is up in the air,..

the hawk mt hike that i had planned is only around 5 or so miles, but it's a lot of rock hopping/bouldering, so it takes longer and it's got some great views and photo ops.

sunday's hike is up in the air because i don't know what everyone wants to do. the AT is right there with the pinnacle and stuff, so we can probably shuttle cars if need be.

i'm into the whole group thing too, but some people may not agree on the route? i dunno.”

“this is just an idea, what if we went up to Ricketts Glen that Saturday for a dayhike. It is less than 90 miles from Windsor Furnace. It will be peak color season up there and the waterfalls should be awesome. The only down fall is that it would be crowded. Just an idea. We could then comeback and camp at Windsor Furnace Saturday night and hike up at Hawk Mtn on Sunday.”

“you're more than welcome to!

i'm not driving all the way up to rickett's glen just for a dayhike and then back to hawk mt... too much driving for me, especially if i'll be camping at windsor furnace fri night.”

“We could make that another trip ENS. Scorch, when it gets closer, I'm going to need directions to the Trail Head.”

“ok it's really easy....
you can probably just mapquest it. it's 1700 hawk mt road.”

“in kempton, pa”

“Gotcha ;~)”

“I think the campground in Ricketts Glen is already closed, but they do have a primitive camping area. Ricketts Glen could be a fun winter trip. Pennsy was talking about doing some ice climbing on the falls and it got me thinking about that too. Crampons would definitely be needed to get up and around the falls in the winter.”

“that would be awesome. i'd be up for that. just got a pair of crampons.”

“Scorchy, if you've never been to Hawk Mt in mid Oct, it will be mobbed. Last Oct, I was coming home from a trip and decided to bop in. There was a 20 minute wait just to park.”

“i'm a maybe for this trip now.”

“unless, as sir pennsy says, there'll be a mob there.”

“mob? nah...

i go there every season, every year. it may be crowded on the main trail (south lookout to north lookout - 1 mile) but then once we get down to the blue trail off of north lookout it's empty. the tourists just like to view the main lookouts.”

“What's the plan for Friday? Are we going to meet at Hawk Mountain visitors center to hike to the shelter?”

“the shelter is like a quarter mile in on the AT.... it's right off of mountain road and reservoir road. about 20 minutes from hawk mt's visitor's center. you park at the water reservoir and then hike in. the shelter is pretty much right there.

i plan on just going straight to the shelter. i can give u directions if you want? or i can meet u somewhere off the turnpike on my way up and you can follow me?”

“How 'bout meeting where we'll be parking the cars? At the water reservior. I know nothing of the area, so as long as you get me there, I'm cool.”

“yea we can meet there... it's not to hard to find (minus the wrong mountain road i took a turn onto last time!)

this time, we'll have to tell the local police that we're parking at the reservoir. i got a parking ticket last time. but the time before that we told the ranger and he said we'd be fine if we told them. oops.”

“Gettin' Closer. I'm dying to get out there! Gots some new gear today too!”

“check out the new gear thread..”

“OK, a couple days away, I have a few questions. How are the bears? Will we have access to our cars between the shelter and Hawk Mountain, and the shelter and the Pinnacle? Is there a good water source nearby? What time will we be meeting, and where? I'm psyched!”

“Man, it's going to be hard to follow up that North Carolina trip I just came off of. I hope this trip doesn't cost me my respect for Pennsylvania...

(just kidding... ha ha...)

No, but seriously folks, when and where are we meeting? Or should we just show up and hike into the shelter/campground? Somebody talk to me, for the love of humanity....puh-LEEZE!”

“:P~~~~~~~”

“How are the bears? i've always bear bagged. the ranger told us before that there have been some spottings.

Will we have access to our cars between the shelter and Hawk Mountain, and the shelter and the Pinnacle? well if we camp friday night at the shelter, it's only about a half mile hike away. we'll camp at the shelter fri night, go to our cars sat morning and drive to hawk mt for the dayhike. then after the dayhike, we'll go back to our base camp at the shelter. then sunday i figure we can pack up camp and head back to the cars, then park by the pinnacle and hike up to the pinnacle.

Is there a good water source nearby? there's a small stream by the shelter, but we probably won't need it if we're only base camping and dayhiking. we can just fill up at the visitor's center. well, that's what i plan on doing anyway. there are no water sources in hawk mountain santcuary.

What time will we be meeting, and where? i just sent everyone out an email. i'll be at WF shelter after 9pm. if you don't plan on meeting friday night, then we'll just meet at the visitor's center on saturday morning between 9 and 9:30am.

I'm psyched!” ME TOO!”

“Sorry, Scorchy. I'm out on this one. Been out the past two weeks and I have obligations to the home and family this weekend.”

“you told me already on the trip this past weekend. treebeard had consumed too much alcohol to remember ; )~”

“Is the overnight parking right at the visitor center?”

“Very cool! Now if I can just get Human GPS to give me directions to the overnight parking area.”

“Don't count on it...I'm about as familiar with this area as you are.”

“Hey PS, are you going up Friday night?”

“Sure, are you?”

“Yea, I have off on Friday, and was thinking about going a little early to do some exploring around the shelter.”

““Is the overnight parking right at the visitor center?”

no, LOL. i told u it was at the shelter.. but u have to make sure you call the local police (hamburg) to let them know you're parking at the water reservoir to stay overnight at the windsor furnace shelter, which is off of mountain road on reservoir road. ENS can give you directions. i don't have my map on me right now.”

“Anyone have directions to the overnight parking area by the reservoir, from rt78 in NJ?”

“yea.. hop on 143E and then turn left onto mountain road. make another left onto reservoir road and you're at the reservoir. make sure to let the local police know you're parking there overnight or you WILL get a $15 parking ticket. i know from experience LOL.”

“...except I don't believe 78 has an interchange with 143. Try the PA61 South Exit toward Hamburg to connect to 143 East...

C ya there!”

“yea. 61S. my bad. i was a little high on nyquil at the point i wrote those directions.”

“well i hate to say it, but i'm gonna have to bail this weekend due to contracting the flu : (

(and no, i'm not preggers!)

i've been thinking about whether or not i should go the whole day and it just seems like my symptoms are getting worse. i don't wanna chance catching pneumonia or something in the cold weather.

i'm handing the trip over to phantomsoul. have fun and have a few drinks in my honor... wish i could be there, as this is my FAVORITE place to hike in the world.”

“That is so lame!! J/K Hope you feel better!!”

“thanks :P”

“Ok, this trip has gone the way of the Dodo, but never fear. 'Tis been replaced by a romp in the Catskills, Arrrr!

Click here for details...”