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

“I'm home from work today. went to the doctor, and now I'm on antibiotics for a chest infection. I think the AT buttkicker did me in this weekend. Black forest would kill me for sure.”

“I'm not bailing yet, but if I go, I'd have to bail Saturday. I can't believe I was underhanded. Uggggg”

“dam, am i the only one still in?

dlm said he's gotta bail out saturday night too. you two could hike out together saturday right?”

“Hardcore, yeah!

What are you guys gonna do, 40 miles per day?”

“40 miles per day. On the BFT?

sacco, about the fishing, it does not look good. Overnight with the combined rain and snow melt the streams are bankful and rolling. I awoke to the sound of water rushing in Babb Creek behind the house this morning. If the rain continues thru the week I doubt conditions will change much between now and Thursday. Hikewise expect the trail itself to be a stream on the numerous slopes along with the all expected mud. Slate Run, Naval Run, Red Run and the Little Morris are going to be a hassle to cross.

I would not want to talk you guys out of this, but with the "trail bug" the rain and now the high water this may not be your weekend.

Sorry I cannot give a better report, but thats the view presently in the canyon.

Gus”

“lol no one is going to hike 40 miles in a day, that was a jk. 15-20 maybe.”

“what's next- a hurricane? earthquakes? a swarm of killer bees?

should i call up and cancel the hotel room? don't know what kind cancellation policy they have but i'm guessing the earlier the better if this trip's gonna bust.”

“Central Pennsylvania got a huge rainstorm today and there is no sign of it stopping. Counties all over this area have flood warnings. And there is a bit of rain in the forecast. Trail conditions could seriously suck. What do you guys think?”

“I'm still in and I don't have to bail on sat either. But with the weather forcast and what the trail conditions will most likely be I will definitly be looking at those short cuts. (or maybe just a section of it this time)”

“I'm thinking we should postpone the trip. It's going to be miserable out there.”

“I called to cancel the room. well 10 day notice is required, or you pay half - $45.00. So I just donated some money to the Hotel manor.
Good luck Sacco - I was sick and there was no negotiation.
last edited: 3/28/05 5:41:38 PM”

“oh man that really sucks. Sacco, I told you I would stay in your room, so I don't mind splitting it with you.”

“1.went to the west rim trail - got sick - lost my wedding ring.
2.went on the AT buttkicker - got sick - lost my saw.
Skipping this one should save my life and I wont loose anymore stuff !!”

“The Black Forest Trail is extremily high on my todo list. Top 5 high!!! I'm definitely going to hike this trail in 2005. I'll postpone the trip, but I would like to get feelers for what weekend works for everyone, or atleast a general idea. May is a possibity and sometime in the fall is a possibility.”

“I'm in if you reschedule.”

“same here. I like May, but I'll pretty much do it any day that ends with Y.”

“It doesn't matter to me if it's May or whatever.”

“sorry the trip has fizzled out less than a week away. I had no idea about the flight schedule until today and that topped with the weather, it just seems like the trail conditions would be miserable.

I have no problem hiking in the rain, but it's been pretty much raining nonstop for 24 hours and there is plenty of rain in the forecast. There are tons of creek crossings on this trail and they will be fords from the rain and snow melt. The trail itself will be a mudslide and creek.
last edited: 3/28/05 8:30:22 PM”

“you can't afford to slide down off any more cliffs. the next time you won't be so lucky!”

“Sometimes these things just happen. There are many nice views on the BFT and it's shame if you hike to them and never get to see what's out there because it's socked in with clouds. The trail conditions that Gus described seem the same as they are around here. We had over an inch of rain and it's still coming down. The trails were all mud before the rain and are now likely streams.”

“On the way to work I dropped down to Slate Run, The Piney is high and mighty rising fast. Up to the Francis Road to Red Run, well out of its banks, all over the trail down in the hollow. Drove to a quick access to Naval Run, you can hear it before you see it, awesome water show coming off the falls and down the sluice to the mouth at Pine Creek. Its just thundering off the mountain. Took a few steps on the trail alongside Naval Run, the hillside is waterlogged and the mud just gives right out underfoot.

The sun came out this afternoon, its warming. But theres a ton of water in them thar hills.

Going to inventory the swiftwater rescue gear tomorrow. It may be a busy weekend.

Gus”

“Hi All,

The name is Mike. I lead hikes for the Howard County, MD Sierra Club and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. I was looking for info on the BFT and stumbled across your group. Pennsy has been providing me with a lot of input for my June trip. We'll be coming from Baltimore so our outing will be shorter than yours. As of now I plan on starting on the BFT at mile marker 13.22 on the FF map around noon and proceed in a clockwise direction. I hope to break the mileage down to about 7-10-7/day.Hope to make camp at mm 7.2 on day one and then at 38.9 or 38.97 on day 2. Plan is to bail out on the dirt road at 38.3 to get over to the Blackberry Trail. Are these dirt roads usable? Are they open to vehicular traffic? Also, does anyone know if a good trail connects Manor rd with Pine Bog Trail. THe map shows one but I'm not sure. After we make it to Blackberry we'll decide if we want to take the ski trail or the continuation of BFT back to the cars. Much of that decision will be based on how much water we think we'll have to deal with on the 20 crossings. Does anyone have any comments/advice about my itinerary? I could use some input here.
last edited: 3/29/05 3:55:06 PM”

“I'm sorry guys. I didn't realize you were cancelling the trip. I typed my note on the side and quickly sent it without checking the lastest messages. I hope you all get to do it eventually.”

“yeah, it really sucks we won't be able to do the trip this weekend. I think everyone was pretty stoked. But we'll do it on a weekend when the weather is better, conditions are better and we'll have a better time. I'm looking into May right now. I hope everyone will be able to attend.”

“Hey Mike. Nice of you to stop by. Hopefully, we'll do this trip before June and provide you with some more input. Gus (What's for Lunch) should be able to answer your questions, especially the one about the roads.

by the way, Mike has a great website with lots of Pa trails mapped out.
Mid Atlantic Hikes. Check it out.”

“for the shameless plug! I appreciate it. Check your e-mail. I sent you a 3-D map of the route I want to do in June. I would hope things would be dryer then although buggier.”

“Well it sucks that you had to cancell the trip. At least now I do not feel so bad about having to miss it for my sons school play. There is no way that i could miss a bunch of 3-4 year olds singing about gum drops and jelly beans.”

“Hey, I screwed up. My trip to BFT is in September. When do the fall colors start up there?

For anyone interested I'm also leading a scouting BP (24 miles) on the AFT in May and a bunch of trips to the Monongahela NF, WV this year.”

“keep us posted. Post trips on the trips page. It's a great tool in organizing backpack trips. I would really like to do the AFT.”

“Earth,

Details for my trip can be found on http://www.midatlantichikes.com/id173.html.
We're not as hard core as you guys. Again, because of driving distances we'll be hiking from noon on day one to about noon on day 3. The mileages would look something like 7-10-7. If you go to the Allegheny Front Web Site you'll find a crude map. I hope to cover the nothern half using Black Moshannon SP trails and roads as connectors. I have to investigate posting my outings here. I'm new to the site.”

“Yes please keep us posted as to where you will be with your hordes of Boy Scouts. That would be handy info, not that there is anything wrong with Boy Scouts, I was one.”

“Who said anything about Boy Scouts Lt?”

“Lt ... I think you misunderstood. I said "SCOUTING" (as in I've never hiked this venue before .. care to join me on an adventure?) NOT "SCOUT" as in Boy Scouts. I do occasionally (maybe once a year, serve as a pathfinder for a local group of Venture Scouts and sometimes I'll invite others to join us. This. however, is not one of those times.Besides, the group I've had the privilege to work with are to be admired. They don't know the meaning of the word "quit".Obviously, should such an outing come to fruition I'll be sure to let you know so you can avoid our mountain.
last edited: 3/30/05 11:32:23 AM”

“LOL Mike I was just kidding, I was a Boy Scout and there are some great scout troops out there. We have all experienced at one time or another the scout invasion when you think that you have that nice quiet peaceful lake front campsite all to yourself.”

“OK, story time! Gather round kiddies. It was Oct. 2003. I was leading a group of about 10 hikers up Signal Knob on Massanutten Mt in VA. I noticed a few tents just after we left the parking lot but thought nothing of it. Got halfway to the top we heard some rocks rolling down the hill. Down came 35 Boy Scouts and their adults right behind. In a way it was good because if we had started 30 minutes earlier we would have had to share the overlook with them. You know what though ... with 40 people you would have thought we would find some trash. There was nothing!!!”

“is anyone still planning on going?? I apologize about having to bail on it.”