West Rim Trail - PA Grand Canyon 3/4 - 3 /6/05

“there is about 3-4 inches of snow.

blackwell hotel is very nice bar/restaurant. it's close to the southern trailhead.”

“Snowshoes - There's an idea. I think I'll hold out until the middle of next week to see what happens with the weather up there. Is everyone else planning on bringing them along?”

“I'll be heading up earlier in the day on friday From Md. Wellsboro has an old fashioned diner. Dont know how the food is tho. Hey EnS Have you thought more about which end we will start from?”

“I'm not going to be getting snowshoes this year, but if there is too much snow up there to posthole by the time this trip rolls around, I might rent a pair from EMS. I believe they charge $20 for a Fri-Mon rental...”

“Hey Icarus, Where r u in maryland?”

“Ens - lighting or denali ?”

“I'd go with Denali - cheaper and good. There have been mixed revws on the Lightnings.

-

We need to get fire permits for this trip and they can be obtained from Pine Creek Outfitters. If anyone is getting there early, they can pick up a permit for our group. Otherwise we have to do it by mail. It's free.”

“Jackstraw - I'm near DC, around the Chevy Chase area.”

“I'll be in the area early, Earth - Do you have an address for Pine Creek?”

“I'll post it tonight”

“Denali's look cooler too. I'm searching around for some now. Thanks ENS.
If enough guys get there early, we should shuttle some of the vehicles to the other end ahead of time. That way the guys who show up at night could park, and hike right in. Meet up at the camp site ?
wadda think ?”

“Pine Creek Outfitters
5142 Route 6
Wellsboro, PA 16901

570-724-3003

here is their website:
http://www.pinecrk.com/aboutus/about.html”

“yeah, we can just meet at the campsite. That would be great if you guys can do the car shuttling ahead of time. I may not get there till 9 Friday night.

Pennsy has the camp spot marked on the map.”

“Depends on how many show up. If we could get at least 2 cars on the other end we should be ok. Looks like 9 people signed up.”

“from weather.com

Today
Feb 24 Snow
20°/13° 80%
20 °F

Fri
Feb 25 Scattered Snow Showers
29°/16° 30%
29 °F

Sat
Feb 26 Snow Shower
25°/5° 30%
25 °F

Sun
Feb 27 Partly Cloudy
27°/19° 10%
27 °F

Mon
Feb 28 Few Snow Showers / Wind
33°/25° 30%
33 °F

Tue
Mar 1 Snow Shower / Wind
30°/15° 40%
30 °F

Wed
Mar 2 Snow Shower / Wind
26°/18° 30%
26 °F

Thu
Mar 3 Mostly Cloudy
29°/20° 20%
29 °F

Fri
Mar 4 Mostly Cloudy
30°/19° 20%
30 °F

Sat
Mar 5 Snow Shower
30°/22° 30%
30 °F

-

I am so stoked for this trip!”

“SCORE!! Just orderd the MSR Denali ascent snowshoes for $118.93. being shipped overnight, so I will try them out this weekend. But they were out of the 4" extensions, so I'm looking elsewhere for those.”

“damn - that is an awesome deal”

“On sale at backcountry.com. orderd the extensions from ORS snowshoes direct for
$21.95. I should have them friday.”

“Brodiesalive has bailed on the trip”

“http://community.webshots.com/album/80184118eQyubM here are some West Rim Trail pics, to get everyone's taste buds wet. We'll get to enjoy the trail with some winter scenery, of course, which will be very cool.”

“Cool pics ENS, kinda makes me look foward to spring. Of all the pics I've taken lately, none of the trees have leaves on them. (Go Figure?) Must not go on this trip (wifes B-Day) must not go.....Very tempting!!!! Must stay strong!! Ahhhhh!!”

“Jackstraw, we're going to start from the southern end. We'll start on the Mid-State Trail in Blackwell and camp Friday night where the trail takes a left and starts going up into Bohen Run Glen. The hike Friday will be less than 2 miles and will all be flat along Pine Creek.

There should be a nice waterfall on Bohen Run along the Mid-State Trail Saturday.”

“those are Pennsy's pics. I reckon we won't be seeing any Timber Rattlers on this trip.
last edited: 2/24/05 6:46:54 PM”

“Awesome pics. I should be there by early evening so I'll Be willing to move cars.Just let me know where to meet up with you all.”

“Got it. So we will be shuttling cars to Pine creek outfitters? I know where they are.”

“I thought those pics looked familiar. ;o)
Unfortunately, there aren't any pics of the best views. I dropped and broke my camera just when we were approaching the "Grand Canyon" area.”

“Ive been to leonard harrison a gazillion times. Never the west rim. never in winter. I'm stoked”

“I'm hoping I can snow shoe. I'm really stoked.

Pennsy: get that knee feeling better! Visit the mystical goat woman and have her do some unga bunga on the knee for you so you can make the trip.
last edited: 2/24/05 7:16:08 PM”

“I am going to look into the rental thing at EMS for snow shoes. There is an EMS in route to PA.”

“it's not a bad deal at all. For $20 you can rent them for 4 days and if you decide to purchase them, you can put the amt paid for the rental towards the purchase.”

“awesome. I drive right by the EMS in timonium, Md. on the way up. I scoped out the map. I'm familiar with Morris and Wellsboro.”

“If there is less than six inches up top, I wouldn't worry about snow shoes though.

Rich:
I got your email, but my reply got routed back to me. I agree, if there is less than 6" of snow, no need for snow shoes. We're getting dumped on down here. I guess the storm tracked south of you. Looking forward to seeing you.”

“Looking forward to hiking with you again and also meeting some new TTer's.

It's still snowing here, but not very hard. We picked up maybe an inch and I think 2 inches are expected at most. The northern counties aren't expected to get much. The snow pack here has a tough crust about 3 inches deep with about an inch or so of some fluff on top. It's pretty easy to hike on since you don't sink in much. The strong sun has melted bare spots on exposed areas on the hillsides.”

“Well it looks like the snow that's out there won't melt anytime soon... I might swing by the EMS that's on the way up there to rent snow shoes as well (i've never been snowshoeing before).

I'll also stop by Pine Creek to get our fire permit now that I know where it's at.”

“Where do you want to meet up icarus ? and what time ?”

“snow shoeing is easy, doesn't require any special skill, just strap'em on and start walking.”

“It'll take me about 5 hours to get there (per mapquest's recommended driving speed, which is too slow to begin with) so I'm guessing I'll be in the area around 3-3:30... then I'll just kick back and relax.

What time do you plan on getting there? I'm not familiar with the area so any suggestions are appreciated ;)”

“I'm guessing I'll be there around 8.

If anyone gets there early and could stop by Pine Creek Outfitters in Wellsboro and get a permit for the campfire, that would be great. That area is beautiful. There is a lot to see. getting there early, you'll have plenty to do.”

“Hey Crazy, shoot me an e-mail when you have a chance. jp5157a@american.edu”

“Hey icarus I called EMS and that store doesnt rent snowshoes. Bummer. I am going to secure something for traction before i hit the trail.”

“I'll probably be in the area by 3p . Wellsboro is a beautiful town.”

“Pine Creek Outfitters, Inc. is located in north-central Pennsylvania, 10 miles west of Wellsboro on PA Route 6. We are 1/2 mile past the Ansonia bridge. Look for our red canoes and large rough-cut building.

From their site. Follow 6 west out of Wellsboro.”

“the snow is already starting to melt here.
last edited: 2/25/05 5:33:20 PM”

“Boo ya!”

“http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/PAZ037.php

keep an eye on this page..”

“The msr denali snowshoes were on my doorstep when I got home. I'll put some miles on them saturday on the AT. How the heck do you attach them to a pack when not in use ?”

“If you're going to be there early too, we should swap cell numbers or meet up somewhere (along with Crazy)... it'd be great to grab some food before heading out for the night.”

“icarus - you got mail.”

“icarus - you got mail.”

“wow, i really do have mail! right back at ya”