Black Forest Trail - Pennsylvania 4/1 - 4/3/05

“Damn,

On call that weekend :(”

“oh man - that sucks Bison”

“Hey, what is a Troll?”

“a troll is a poster that whose only purpose is to stir up trouble. A poster will go incognito and come up with an alter ego and stir up trouble. It has been a long standing tradition on TT to call all new TTers trolls. A popular troll on TT is to come on as a new person and ask a lot of dumb questions or act like a hot chick and stir up all the single guys on TT. Most new TTers are not trolls, and TTers all realize this, but they like to ruffle the newbies feathers. Many newbies get scared off, but the hardiest stay on and join the eclectc crowd, go on the trips and join in the banter. Welcome to TT!”

“Dude, don't sweat it. We're gonna go see Banff on Wednesday and I'll de-troll ya. (It's a long story -- perhaps to be shared over a campfire someday...)”

“lol
Cool, no worries.”

“I was a troll for 6 months”

“:-0
I am not an animal...

:-D”

“I bought the trailguide and map for this trail tonight. Damn I'm stoked - 1 month to go.”

“da luttle gurley mon bison ist flabby and veek.

you could not hike on dis trail vid us anyvay little mon. you would cause a flab-o-lanche.”

“Flab-o-lanch !

LOL, that's some funny shiznitz !!”

“LMAO”

“Just got back last week fro ice climbing and backcountry camping near Yosemite--awesome country out there. Pennsy...sorry to hear that strike is still on. Sacco - I need to come on this trip and leave something..you passed the test of honesty grasshopper.

Let me see if I can get off that Friday - Will take me about 4 hours to get there from New Hope, Pa. So I'd either get there late Thurs, after working, of early on Friday.

I feel its my duty to go..you need someone to slow you down....

Carpooling sounds like the way to go. What's the snow/wet/mud situation there?

Bruce
last edited: 3/09/05 4:54:28 PM”

“Bruce, keep your pack weight down for this one. lol Hauling those 70 lb packs up and down these hills will be suicide. Look forward forward to hiking with you again. This is going to be some fun. I've not been to the Black Forest Trail yet, but that whole area up there is so amazing. Hopefully we will start seeing signs of spring by then. I'm ready for spring.

I plan on getting there Thursday night. I'm not sure if I'm going to camp or if Sacco gets a room, maybe crash there.

Bison - throw the pager into the Potomac and get on this trip!”

“I'm by Princeton, and am currently thinking about heading out late Thurs afternoon/Thurs night. I think I'm meeting up with EarthNSky near Harrisburg as well for this.

What's our ride situation like? Do we have room for 3?”

“3 in my car will be a tight fit, but it's doable.

I'm not sure about mud on the trail. I don't think it's a rocky trail like the PA AT. There is a lot of up and a lot of down. This will be my first time hiking the trail. We will have some creek crossings, including Slate Run.. So it could be wet.

As far as snow, I wouldn't expect any, but you never know. We'll know closer to the time of the trip. If there is snow, there won't be much. The highest elevation on the trip is around 2250 feet.”

“bruce, you bringing ted along again? how did your big trip go?

i'm gonna call the inn tomorrow and see about a room. not that i'm worried about them getting all booked up, but maybe i can get a room number to post for you johnny-come-late-nights.”

“i'll ask about trail conditions too”

“ENS - you guys ought to start thinking about where to start the hike? There are several parking areas but most are small pullouts with room for only a few cars. There is one large parking area "somewhere" on rt 44 which would be a good place to start. However, on the parking areas I have marked on the map, I don't know which one it is. Jmitch mentions it in his book, so maybe he could help out here. Once the starting point is established, you can start looking at the map to pick out alternate routes, for those who can't do the whole trail.”

“You ClimbHi - I'm anxious to hear about your big trip. I hope you took lots of pics too.”

“Hey - if my pack doesn't weight at least 60 lbs - it doesn't count! For this kind of mileage, my weight goes way down. I'm an planning a trip to Mt. Rainier in August - but that's another issue. Pennsy - I took a lot of photos - there on a the kodak ofoto.com. i'll try to get a link. Hope I can make it --look forward to seeing everyone.
last edited: 3/09/05 8:32:21 PM”

“Let's try this thread:

http://www.ofoto.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=17k8c8wj.12m16loz&Uy=696brf&Upost_signin=BrowsePhotos.jsp%3FshowSlide%3Dtrue&Ux=0

Picture of Lee Vining Ice Canyon and Camping backcountry......”

“I'm gonna head up thursday night too, so if there is not room enough I can take ya. I could meet you at the turnpike exit for mahonning valley on the north east extension. It will probably be closer for you.
Ps: who's got my booze bottle and saw ?”

“I got that stuff”

“Is it empty ???????”

“same level as when you gave it to me. We were to exhausted to drink. lol”

“nice pics bruce

looks like a great time”

“Save it for the black forest trip or use it and fill with something else.
Hey, did you get my e-mail about my return trip to the rim ?”

“biggest parking area is along PA 44, forget the name, look in my book. parking area at slate run is very small, a pull off. better if you park in the large parking lot in slate run along pine creek and just walk to the trailhead, it's a short walk.”

“thanks Jmitch

crazypace - I didn't get the email.”

“made a coupla phone calls.

trail conditions right now: 1-3" of hard packed icey snow at the base.
3-6" of hardpacked icey snow on top of plateau.

black forest inn is only open fri-sun.

i rented a room at the hotel manor in slate run (392 slate run road)

room 201, for two people. cost is 90 beans total.”

“The parking lot on Rt. 44 at the Forest Headquarters has a lot of room with no mud and level parking spots. As a bonus the ranger might come by a few times a day and may be about the safest place to park.”

“Since you asked, the best parking for the BFT is going to be at Slate Run. The lot at the canoe launch will be fine. If you use this, please park next to the rail trail, not along the creek itself. The canoeists and rafters appreciate that. Pump Station Lot is alright, but its a bit of a drive. Especially if you are staying at the Manor. Mark would like to keep his lot open for customers so if you could park at the canoe access it would be appreciated. The weather should be warmer by then, unless a late season storm would surprise us. You may still find ice and snow in the shaded deep woods. Not a big deal. Your best access is by Route 414 from either Waterville from the south, or from Morris to the north.

As usual I will post the current local weather conditions as we approach departure time.
Welcome again to Canyon Country!

Gus”

“thanks Gus.. It was good meeting you the other weekend. Hope to see you when we return for this trip. Are you still thinking of joing us? Thanks for your help again.”

“Hey no prob, I don't mind doing logistics for hikers. Since I am in the neighborhood its the least I can do.

I am scheduled to work dayshift that weekend, I may make a deal for at least one day off I will let you know how that goes.

Gus”

“rob, you're taking the other half of the room right?”

“yeah”

“ok. cool.”

“can we squeeze anyothers in there? I'll probably have the Phantom Soul with me.”

“sure. what about crazypace? anyone else staying thursday nite?

how about a headcount so we can make a choice for 1 or 2 rooms.”

“Um, ENS, we might also have ClimbHi; I don't know as I haven't heard from him, but he has been invited to carpool with us since he lives like 15 mins from me...”

“I was looking around the internet and found this forum about this trail. I am thinking about hiking this trail at the end of April and was wondering about parking. you said there is a canoe launch at Slate Run. Where is that exactly at. Do you turn left or right after you cross the bridge or is it not even over the bridge going into Slate Run? Is this a public parking lot? Is that forest station past Trout Run Road on 44 and do you need passes to camp overnight on the trail. I am new to this and was wondering if you guys could answer me on these questions. any info would be greatly appreciated thanks”

“Hi Bri,
The Canoe Launch Lot is on Slate Run Road just off route 414 in Slate Run. Before you cross Pine Creek to the right. If you park there stay close to the rail trail to keep the launch area open for boats. The Pump Station Ranger Station on Route 44 is what you refer to north of Trout Run Road. A pass is not required on the trail, DCNR would appreciate it if you had a permit if camping along Pine Creek. Enforcement is more stringent there.

Gus”

“I'm gonna head up on thursday after work.
I would rather wake up, up there, then drive 3 hrs in the AM. So, Im up for a carpool, slash roompool/ or extra bag night. Whatever.
Phantom, I can meet you guys near I78 somehwere. I'm heading up from quakertown (work).”

“so we've got crazy, phantom, ens, and i at the hotel?
climbhi is still unsure?

maybe we should get two rooms?

thoughts ?”

“we could cram in, I don't mind sleeping on the floor”

“I slept on the bunkhouse floor in Maine last summer. Unfortunately, the sleep started on the third bunk.”

“you discover gravity that night? Newton was smart, huh”

“if you didn't hear the story, I'll tell you at the next campfire.

hey, you got mail by the way.

I'm hoping to do this trip. I go back to work tomorrow and I'll try to get a feel as to what the overtime situation will be. It's possible they may have us work several Saturdays to clean up the mess they made during the strike.”

“I remember bits and pieces of the story. Something about the visitors.”