Thunder Swamp (Pa) Dec 11-12

“I need to get out this weekend and I want to be close to home, so I'm gonna do a 20+ mile loop on the Thunderswamp Trail. Anybody interested?

The trail is fairly flat, rocky, and should be very wet, but the campsite along the Bushkill Creek is one of the best spots I've ever camped. The main trailhead is on rte 402, about 8 miles north of rte 209 in Marshalls Creek. If interested, meet me there at 8pm, and we'll drive further north to where I would like to start.”

“Ummm..If I start driving now I could be there late Saturday...

Is that good?”

“ooooh

I wasn't going to go backpacking this weekend, but that does sound tempting.
last edited: 12/09/04 7:29:36 PM”

“some day imma gonna get out there!”

“sounds great mister A. Pick me up on your way through, ok?

ENS - it's not peak bagging but a nice trail. We did this back in April. It was Phantom Soul's first TT trip.”

“would it be 10 miles each day? What time are you starting on Saturday and what time do you expect to finish on Sunday? I maybe up for this. It will probably be a fast paced hike, right?”

“I'm thinking it would be closer to 12 miles on Sat and 8ish on Sun. The pace can be as slow or fast as you want it to be. If we met at 8 sat morning, we would be on the trail by 8:30. Oh, I imagine there will be hunting on Sat, so orange will be the color of choice.”

“what's the scenery like along the trail? At the very least, I will meet up with you for a dayhike. But I'm strongly considering doing the whole trip. It'll be nice to do a flat hike after the stretch of buttkickers.

It will also be nice to get out and do a local hike.
last edited: 12/09/04 7:41:18 PM”

“it's a forest hike, with some nice streams and small waterfalls. Here's my pics from the April trip.

Weather wise, Sunday should be a better day so if you come Sat, you might as well stay and camp. Besides, check out the cool campsite in the pics. If you need to be somewhere Sun, we can get up early and finish quickly.”

“I'm intrigued. Very intrigued. I'm busy tomorrow night, but perhaps I can jump on somwhere on Saturday...

Are you doing the trail the same way we did my innaugural TT trip back in April? Perhaps I can meet up at the Bushkill campsite?”

“the camp spot does look pretty good. The weather isn't looking too bad either. Yeah, I will join you. I have to move some stuff with my Dad Sunday early evening.

Just need some directions.”

“Yeah Phantom of the Soul, come with us!!! I'll probably crash at my Dad's tomorrow night and you're welcome to crash there too! that will get us closer to the trail head. I'm going to Melissa's party too!

We're not starting until 8 Saturday morning.
last edited: 12/09/04 8:08:23 PM”

“I still have Blalock's orange tape from the Black Mountain trip”

“You gonna pack in the beer again? heh heh
Yeah, pretty much the same route except we wouldn't be starting at Mikes cabin. The map shows a parking near there though, or at the intersection of 402 and Old Bushkill Rd. From there we would take the Burnt Mills Swamp trail to the Thunderswamp Loop. The Bushkill campsite is only 1-2 miles from the main parking area, so if need to jump in late, you can start there.

ENS - directions: rte 80 east to exit 309 (Marshalls Creek exit). Take rte 209 north for about 4 miles into Marshalls Creek. Turn left on rte 402 north. The main parking area for the Thunder Swamp is on the right about 8 miles.”

“Thanks Pennsy, I see all of that on the map.

PS if you pack in some beer, that would be awesome! I like Yuengling. ;)”

“bump”

“Maybe -- I don't know. I'll think about it. If I do, it won't be as many as last time; rather maybe just one for each of us (unless too many people show up), to commemorate my first TT expedition...”

“so who all is coming with us? PS is bringing beer!!!”

“bump”

“I'm working on it, trying to get a weekend pass from the warden. LOL”

“Looking good, I shall contact Mr. Phantom for the logistics. Woohoo!”

“that would be great if you can make it BS. I assume that we'll get done early on Sunday with an 8 mile hike and good weather. The camping spot looks great. We should have some good company for this trip. I'll bring my harmonica.”

“anyone else want to join us this weekend?”

“OK, lets see if I got this straight. Rt.402, to the second trail head for Thunder Swamp, is it marked from the road?”

“I'm just joking about the harmonica”

“aww shucks. I actually have a harmonica and I thought we could do a duet. haha.

Backslacker - I'm not sure what the parking areas are like where we'll actually start. That's why I suggest meeting at the main parking area, and we can convoy from there. It's on the right, about 8 miles from MC, just inside the Pike County border. I remember seeing a large sign and it's a big parking area.

We could start hiking from the main area, but it would take the cool campsite out of play. Unless of course we hike 18+ miles on Sat and only 2 or so Sunday.
last edited: 12/10/04 3:48:09 PM”

“I thought Ewker said that pennsy took his toys and left?”

“on that note I'll bring mine. Mine's in the key of C and I can play a few tunes on it. lol namely Bethoveen's 8th symphony.

I was talking to Scorch and she's interested in camping with us tomorrow night. she was wondering if there was a fast way to get to the campsite so she doesn't have to hike a long way on her sore wheel.”

“key of C? Hey, I said I have a harmonica. I didn't say I have a clue on how to play it though. ;o)

Yeah, there are a couple of ways for Scorchy to meet us. Looking at the map, it's about 3 miles from the main parking area. She would cross the road and head west, following the orange blazes. When the trail gets close to the Bushkill Creek, look for campsites to the left. I don't recall the sites being visible from the trail though. She could just wait for us in the parking area since the trail crosses the road there.
last edited: 12/10/04 4:07:27 PM”

“Nah...18 miles, I'll be to pooped to party LOL, proceed as planned, that's cool with me.”

“Anyone hear from JMooch or RichB? Are they joining us, or are they insisting on doint their own thing -- Pinchot, was it, I think?”

“we won't be seeing jmich and richb this weekend. jmitch has things to do tomorrow and he and richb are climbing Bald Mnt near Scranton on Sunday.”

“We will be dayhiking at Bald Mountain in Lackawanna county on Sunday.”

“Alright, I'm outta here on my way to Scorchie's for a night of going out (and stuff), then over to Reading to crash for the night, before heading up to the Poconos.

C U There!”

“Grrrrrrrrrr!”

“Yo later Dude...Have fun storming the castle!”

“dude lemme just tell u how drunk ENS and PS got last night! they had to leave their cars at the bar and we had to drive them there this morning at 6:30am to pick them up.. hopefully they made it to the trailhead okay because at 6:30am i was still drunk.

have fun guys!”

“oh and they both passed out AT the bar LMAO”

“Hiking with a hangover doesn't sound too good.”

“yea i'm feelin for them this weekend.”

“Pennsy,
I haven't been on the boards for a few days. I wish I had known earlier. Be sure to give a report on trail conditions. I only hiked a short section after the hurricanes blew through and the trail had some blow downs but not too bad.
NJpacker”

“NJ - I didn't plan the trip until Thursday, but I was hoping you'd see the thread in time. I need to get your phone number, okee? We were talking about you, and thinking about breaking into your cabin. ;o)

Trail conditions? Wet, wet, and wet. Not much blowdown, but several interesting new stream crossings. One major problem: The bridge that crosses the Saw Creek (about 1.5 miles east of the main trailhead) was washed away. There was no way to cross the stream, so we backtracked, hiked up the power line to Whittaker Road, road walked to 402, and then Snow Hill Road. It was about 4 miles on the road, and we finally hit the trail again, and headed back towards the "secret" campssite. The site was still intact and we had a great night.

hiker report: Phantom Soul and EarthNsky showed up about an hour late after a party at Scorchy's. This was a "dry" trip with no booze, but to make up for it, we had PS and ENS breathe on us and we were immeditaley intoxicated. ;o)

It was a great trip, despite the road walk. That campsite is one of the best, and the company was excellent. Backslacker was the only one to take pics, so look for his link.
last edited: 12/12/04 6:54:19 PM”

“Thanks pennsy, for a pretty cool trip. The road walk was murder on the feet, but the trail offered quite a few "adventures" LOL. Great camp site, right next to Bushkill Creek, and the sound of the water was great to fall asleep to. True to my name, I was the second one up, but the last to pack my gear, I'm such a Slacker. Very cool time BS'ing around the fire, and meeting new people. Now I can add ENS and Pennsy to my "who have you met" list, that makes five, woah, I'm big time now :~) Sorry my pics aren't ready yet, I'll try to have them up tommorrow(pssst, I'm a slacker). Peace
last edited: 12/12/04 7:56:20 PM”

“Did you get rained on at all? I was thinking about you guys when a heavy shower moved through here about 5:30 Saturday evening. It didn't last too long though. Were there any deer hunters out there? Saturday was the last day of the season. We had a nice day hike up to Bald Mountain. It was a short hike, but the clouds cleared out enough for some good views.”

“Alright pics are up, have a look see.

http://community.webshots.com/album/231817460qSEsis

RichB, no rain at all, and yea we saw a few hunters, we prolly pissed them off chasing away their game. LOL”

“I think I've reached an all time low :(

Eh, I guess it could've been worse; maybe some things are better left not known. I guess this is the end result of all the sleep deprivation I bestow on myself...

As far as being hung over, I wasn't feeling too bad in the morning; just a bit tired, if anything. Can't speak for ENS, though, but after Pennsy and BackSlacker's comments, I'm sure glad we didn't have a run-in with the ol' Smokies...

The Thunderswamp was cool, even though we got there over an hour late (heh heh...). Saw Creek presented us with a nice surprise with its bridge, or lack thereof. But never fear! I found us a detour that tacked on a few extra miles and way too much roadwalking, but hey, we got to the cool campsite, didn't we?

The fire was an ongoing battle throughout the night (it's tough to burn wet wood), and surprisingly enough, no...how you say...adult beverages were consumed around the fire on Sat night (are we surprised?).

After Saturday's insane roadwalk, we opted for the easy hike out to the southern 402 trailhead, from which I shuttled everyone to the upper trailhead (where we started) in my tiny little Jetta. I tell you, it was like the 60 clowns coming out of the Volkswagen -- wait a minute, it was a Volkswagen...

Lunch at the Yankee Doodle Diner was grand, before we all went our separate ways. After taking ENS back to Warminster to get his car (heh heh), I drove back home and took a much deserved nap before going out to rent some movies (The Princess Bride problem is no more)....
last edited: 12/13/04 5:18:46 PM”

“cool pics dude!”

“you rented some of the Pink Panthers right?”

“The first. I love the scene with the car chase, and the dude who's just trying to cross the street and the cars just keep flying by him, and he's just like what the f***?

...and at the end of the gag with the zebra; oh it was pure cheese I tell ya! So funny, I almost fell off the couch. I still have to watch Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different tonight...”

“Phantom saw the Princess Bride? Inconceivable!”