The Pennsylvania backpacking/hiking Chal lenge 2005

“It all started with a New Year's Dayhike on the Golden Eagle Trail yesterday with Pennsy, MSilver and RichB.

The goal is to hike or backpack a Pennsylvania trail or trail network once a month.

Pennsylvania has an amazing backcountry system. Where it lacks in elevation, it gains in beautiful, mystical and lush gorges and beautiful vistas. The State takes its trail system seriously and works hard to keep it maintained.

In February there is a trip to Ricketts Glen State Park and we will be hiking the Glens Trail which is a 7-8 mile loop and should be fun in all of the ice and snow. We may try to do some ice climbing on the waterfalls.

In March, I am thinking about the West Rim Trail.

I hope to knock out quite a bit of Pennsylvania trails this year.”

“This is a great thread ENS. I backpacked almost every weekend in 2004, but I feel like I dissed my beautiful home state, and hope to do more "local" trips in 2005.”

“yeah, there is so much great hiking right here in Pennsylvania, so I want I think it would be great to do atleast one trip in PA per month. I already put up a West Rim trip for March. I was pretty entrhralled by that Pine Creek area and would like to get back up there for some further exploration.”

“This sounds good to me. I'll keep watching the thread and try to attend as many as I can.”

“Rich, check out the West Rim trail trip.”

“I did and signed up. I'm going to do a TT trip to include the new land the State added to the Pinchot trail. Just not sure when yet.”

“The time I spent in PA last year was most enjoyablt - yall have something worth hanging onto up there!”

“I grew up near Pittsburgh and I'm currently living in California. Since my parents still live in PA, I've always wanted to take a BP trip when I go back to visit. Maybe this year I will.

Any suggestions for an overnighter not too far (~2-3 hours) from Pittsburgh (Jeanette)?”

“i like that there is so much public land, so many trails without the crowds you find in other places- i hate competing for campsites. seems silly to go backpacking only to face crowds.

PA has more than you may realize- the most extensive backpacking trail system east of the rockies. The state has more trails then many western states.”

“Plan another trip for the Quehanna Trail during the elk rut and I am in.

I believe that is torwards the end of September.

Just don't allow JMitch to come”

“I'm planning to go to the Allegheny National Forest over President's Day weekend... Click the link for details.

This "challenge" sounds like fun!
last edited: 1/03/05 3:01:58 PM”

“This challenge is also in celebration of Jmitch's new book about backpacking Pennsylvania, which comes out soon. Jmitch has another book about hiking the Endless Mountains.”

“In April I would like to try the Black Forest Trail.

Wounded Knee - I like your idea of the Quehanna Trail in September. It would be awesome to spot some elk!”

“I envy you the Rickett's Glen trip, it's supposed to be a beautiful park.

Those of you in or near PA. might want to check out www.artofthetrail.com/paruck.html

This annual event gets a lot of A.T. folks together, and is always held in January in Pennsylvania. In addition to all sorts of other activities, they also plan to do some hiking that weekend; this is also a great thing to attend if you've ever thought about thru-hiking.”

“thanks for the info B.Jack!

I'm going to put up a trip for the Black Forest Trail the first weekend of April.

I'm also thinking of doing a PA dayhike this weekend. Not sure where though. I'd like to keep it close.”

“The earlier in the Spring on the Black Forest trail the better. The black flies hatch at some point near mid April and they can be brutal. Fortunately, they only seem to be really bad for a few weeks.”

“I posted the Black Forest Trail Trip for April 1st - April 3rd which is a weekend. I'd like to do the entire trail if possible. Will we avoid the black fly event?
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So far the Hike PA challenge schedule is:
Jan. 1 - Golden Eagle Trail - already completed.
Jan. 8-9 - dayhike somewhere in PA. details to be announced. Maybe Dingmans Falls in the Del. River Water Gap.
Feb. 4-6 - Ricketts Glen State Park
March 4-6 - West Rim Trail - with some off trail explorations to search for waterfalls.
April 1-3 - Black Forest Trails
--
also on the to do list:
Allegheny Front Trail
Laurel Highlands Trail
Appalachian Trail south central PA section
Mid State Trail
Quehanna Trail - probably sometime in September
Pinshot Trail - RichB is talking about hosting this trip on a new section of the trail.
Loyalsock Trail - thruhike - sometime in fall color season
Many, many other trails.
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both dayhikes and backpacks count. Anyone can get involved. This is not a contest. Just a challenge to get people out on the trails of PA.
last edited: 1/03/05 7:00:00 PM”

“It's interesting talking to the Lorax, who was from PA. He's said the Poconos have become, in essence, kind of a rural slum of urban people, with low-cost, cheap housing being built and a lot of (how do I say this politically correct?) low-end people on welfare moving there. They apparently know nothing of country living and the houses don't last long. Crime has risen immensely, he says.

He also can't get over that in the Midwest stores and businesses accept personal checks, saying that would never happen where he's from.

Anyone else's take on the Poconos? Haven't been there, but find such issues quite interesting: People moving into lands they really should just leave alone, which they then ruin because of overuse, or numerous other reasons, in either a high-class or low-class setting.

Bottom line: will Patrick Swayze be returning to dance at some resort soon? LOL

To clarify, am not knocking PA. I'd just always heard the Poconos were pretty (I'm not even sure what part of the state they're in.) Is the beauty gone? If so, was it a good backpacking area?
last edited: 1/03/05 7:04:38 PM”

“We hiked the Black Forest trail with a group of TTer's the weekend of April 26, 2002 and the black flies were bad at that time. Based on that I think (hope) we would be OK in the early part of the month.”

“cool. When do those buggers go away in PA?

I probably won't put together any more trips after the the BFT April trip until Late Feb or early march.”

“Lizs, despite the urban problems of some communities in the Poconos. PA. does have good hiking, especially in Central PA. Northeastern PA. has some good tracts of gamelands, State Forests and watershed land, but mostly dayhikes around here. I personally haven't seen my Northeastern PA. hiking diminished by whatever social ills the Poconos have.”

“ENS, I'd like to do that section on the new land sometime this winter or spring before it gets grown in since it involves some bushwhacking. It not a difficult bushwhack, but there's no trail to get over to Panther Hill vista and then back up to the Lackawanna forest from Painter Creek. The Pinchot is alright to hike in summer because it's an established trail.”

“sounds awesome Rich!”

“You pretty much hit the nail on the head. My sister moved to the Poconos in the mid 80's, and it was really nice. Since then, the population has more than tripled, with houses popping up everywhere. Parents commute to the city, and leave there kids home alone most of the day, and some parents only come home on weekends. Hence the major rise in crime! That being said, there still is a lot of great hiking to be done in the area.”

“Oh BTW ENS, this sounds like a great idea! I'll try to go when ever I can.”

“Lizs I live in the Poconos and yes those areas exist. It is primarily along the Route 80 corridor and the eastern areas because it’s only a 2 hour drive to New York City and Northern New Jersey which is one of the most expensive places to live in the entire country, so people move here because it is affordable. I live in the northwest Poconos and it is completely different. I have lived here for 8 years and have never once locked my car. I can walk 100 yards down the road and be in a state forest. The Poconos have traditionally been a low income area because there has never been any type of big industry here, although in my area we are having what my neighbor who is a realtor calls the 9/11 boom. Since 9/11 a lot of well off people from the New York and New Jersey are moving their families out here and building huge expensive houses and the husband will have an apartment in New York City or New Jersey where he can stay during the week instead of commuting. There is definitely a need for better planning for the entire region.”

“It would make pretty good overnighter trip or weekend depending on how much of the Pinchot trail you add into the mix.”

“State Forest Trails Award



http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/trailaward.aspx”

“that's a pretty cool patch”

“Another cool site.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/hiking/”

“add Old Loggers Path to that list I posted earlier.”

“Jmitch has the Link Trail trip 5/7 - 5/8/05.”

“Interesting. Glad to hear the hiking is still there. And it sounds like they need better zoning. That's a problem everywhere.

Now, hike on!”

“OLP in March? 3/12-3/13 maybe???”

“are you planning that trip BS? I might be interested in that.”

“I've been wanting to do the OLP since a group went last Aug. I don't know much of the area, but would post the trip if I got help with the details.”

“Yeah, we can help. I always post trips I know nothing about and put in the description "help!". It's a 22 mile loop I think and a very nice trail. I only saw about 4 miles of it.”

“Alright, anybody else interested?”

“If Kamper gets a job in PA, I'm in.”

“I am, just post the trip because plenty of people here have hiked the trail several times that can help out with any details.”

“you might be coming to PA Curr?”

“BS, if it's a weekend where I'm not doing anyother trips, of course I'll be there.”

“Very very slim chance. Angie went to a painfully expensive school to get her masters degree in nursing. There is a corporation that will pay off her student loans if she works in certain underserved areas in the US and abroad. There are a couple of great paying sites in PA that we are looking at. I want to go to western NC or east TN. But to get those loans paid off by someone else I'm willing to suck it up.”

“PA isn't so bad. Lots of cool cities close by and the beach is close too. Then you are closer to the Whites, Adks and Catskills. Also close to Shenandoah and West Virginia. PA has great Bp'g oppurtunities as well. Like Jmitch said, PA has the largest trail network east of the rockies and is competitive with many states in the west with trail miles. The only thing PA doesn't have is elevation. Still, many of the mountains here rise above 2000 feet and that's not so bad. They all have great views. Western NC isn't too bad of a drive, only 8 hours tops.”

“York Pa. What do you know about it? There is an extremely well paying site there and I love the location. It is close to some of the areas I want to be.”

“I work in York. It's a nice town. Less than an hour from Baltimore and less than 2 hours from Philly. I live in Lancaster and it's 25 miles away and is a cool town with some cool bars and clubs. Harrisburg and Reading are close by too and have some cool things.

York has a population of about 40,000 and a metro pop of aprox. 100,000.

Alot of good PA hiking close by, including the AT which is about a half an hour away. Shenandoah is about 2 hours away. West Virginia is about 4-5 hours away. Adirondacks about 7 hours away. Adirondacks are awesome though. I think I might like them better than the Smokies and I thought that was impossible.

Alot of TTers in PA too. Scorchfire throws alot of wild parties where people (protect the innocent) have been known to pass out at the bar.

York, like many cities in PA, is a town that saw a decline over the last few decades, but now is on the up and up.

Above all, it's a very affordable place to live with a decent economy.”

“Wow!! That's great news. I'll pass this on to Kamper and see what she thinks.”

“York is lichen to Murfreesboro with out a huge university like MTSU”

“Pennsylvania is the second biggest group on here after Tennessee, I think.

It's a nice area. Don't expect to see a lot of dramatically high mountains (the state's highest point is < 4000 ft), but rather a hilly to rolling landscape. Lots of nice gorge trails, and stuff like that.

Oh yeah, and rocks. Legendary, infamous, and EVIL rocks, especially towards the east -- Lehigh Valley/Poconos area. But nice area nonetheless.”

“ENS - the Laurel Highland trail is nice to do over the winter months. Shelters with fireplaces are a welcome site at the end of the day. You can throw a tarp over the opening to block wind and retain heat. I'm in Altoona. Within 2-3 hour drive of alot of the trails the you listed. This could be a great hiking year!”