gPib 2k5 - Ricketts Glen State Park trip report

“This was a great trip and we had an awesome time. It was a balmy weekend up at the Glen, but we had plenty of snow. The cabin was really nice and the company even better.

Friday, Pennsy and I hit the Glens Falls Trail and after that Pennsy had to head home. I had purchased MSR denali ascent snow shoes a few nights prior to this trip and was itching to use 'em, so I went and snow shoed out on Lake Jean and enjoyed a fantabulous sunset out on the lake.

About 830 Phantom Soul and Backslacker arrived. We made dinner, Backslacker grilled some awesome spicy sausage. We played some cards and had some drinks and chatted it up until about 130am and then we went to bed.

About 330am there was a knock at the door and it was Gemini.

We got up about 700 and had breakfast and geared up and met Lumberjack at the visitor center at around 930.

We then proceeded to the trailhead which was near the cabins and donned our crampons at the Cherry Run Trail and head down the Falls trail. This was the same exact route Pennsy and I had taken the day prior. It's an amzingly scenic route any how. On Friday the trail had a lot of snow pack on it, but was very icy and dangerous in several sections, however, it was no problem with full crampons on.

Anyway, we proceeded into Glen Leigh along the East Branch of Kitchen Creek through an amazing old growth hemlock forest. SOme of the trees in this forest were the biggest trees I've ever seen. There was one that had a circonference of 15 feet and was well over 100 feet in height.

We then came to our first waterfall, Ocndaga Falls and right way hit a steep icy section. Phantom Soul quickly dubbed it the ice ladder of death. I was ready for it, cuz I did it the day before and went down into the basin of the falls. Lumberjack was behind me and decided to butt slide down and did so successfully. Backslacker and Gemini then climbed down using their crampons. Phantom Soul wasn't sure of his crampons and decided to buttslide. We all wish we had that on video. At the time it looked pretty scary. I'll let him describe that.

We then proceeded through Glen Leigh passed beautiful ice formations and frozen waterfalls on our way to Waters Meet. We had to negotiate several more ice scrambles and numerous blowdowns on the way. It was a beautiful day. The trail was actually icier Saturday than it was Sunday due to the warm weather.

We checked out the waterfalls down below waters meet and then proceeded up Gagnoga Glen. Gagnoga Falls (the Grand daddy of all the falls with in the park) was spectacular and there was a group ice climbing the many ice formations with in the bowl of the falls. We hung out there for a while and enjoyed the view, took lots of pics and talked to some of the ice climbers and then went on our way.

There was a hairy ice bridge the climb out of Gagnoga Falls Basin, but the ice climbers had a rope screwed into the ice to hold on to while crossing it. On Friday, that was not there when Pennsy and I crossed it. This would have been deadly without crampons. It was really fun to cross it though. Even with crampons on, you still had to be careful.

We continued along the last few falls and then took the Highland Trail back to the Cherry Run trail to complete the loop and headed back to the cabin. There we said our goodbyes to Lumberjack. It was great meeting him and awesome to have him along for the hike.

We hung out at the cabin for an hour and then geared back up and hiked out across lake Jean to see the sunset. I again snow shoed. That was a lot of fun.

When we got back we made a quick run to the country store in Red Rock and then returned to the cabin and had dinner. I cooked mac'ncheese and Backslacker grilled some steak. Dinner was awesome.

We clowned around in the cabin until and then went to bed. We got up around 7 this morning packed up, cleaned up and hit the road around 9, stopping at Cracker Barrel in Bloomsburg for breakfast. Gemini followed me to I-81 and we stopped in Cetrailia, PA to check out the ghost town and mine fire.

That was an awesome weekend and I had a blast. I was bummed when it was time to go home. It was great hiking with Pennsy on Friday and a bummer he was unable to stay.

I'll get my pics up soon and post a link. Everyone will have a bunch of pics.”

“Great report ENS. I'm bummed that I couldn't stay the weekend but I had a great time on Friday, despite the dog bite and my knee crapping out.

I'm glad y'all had a great weekend, and I'm looking forward to the pics.

In the meantime, here are my pics from Friday.”

“A dog bit your knee?

Gemini rides again!!!

Yee-Haw !!”

“I asked the lady: "Does your dog bite?"
she replied: "No, my dog does not bite."
I petted the dog, he bit me, so I said: "I thought you said your dog doesn't bite?"
she replied: "That is not my dog."

Actually, I petted the dog while he was still on the leash, and he bit he on the hand. Hurt like hell but no broken skin. Thank you gloves. No big deal since I used to be a meter reader and got bit several times.”

“Yeah we had a great time, I was rather amused that all these city slickers were so impressed by a couple of little trees :) But then thats one of the reasons I live out here. Since it was the first time wearing crampons for me and after watching ENS and Gemini carefully inch their way down the stair of doom I decided it would be quicker just to slide down them... it was fast alright. (daily thrill) after a few hudred pictures we had lunch which didnt agree with me and proceeded back up the hill. The ice was great and we stopped at ganoga falls for a bit to watch the ice climbing. It took a while to get used to the crampons and I was twisting my knee a bit at first but once I got used to them tackling the ice above ganoga wasnt too bad. Normally I would have turned around instead of trying to cross that. Im kinda surprised the park has not put a perment rope there. By the end of the hike the extra weight of the cramps and boots was getting to me. Guess I need to do this loop a lot more often this year...

Couldnt stay afterwards for the drunken orgy but I did enjoy meeting everyone. Thanks for visiting my backyard :)”

“Great TR ENS, not much to add,'cept the falls were excellent,as was the company, great to meet Gem and LJ. Thanks ENS for putting together a fantastic trip. Wish you could have stayed Pennsy, it would have have been cool to hike with you again (we saw your name in the snow)Gem has now been dubbed "Gretle in Gaiters" :-) and she's one hardy hiker! PhantomSoul had a great fall, very funny once we found out he was OK. Even he had a good chuckle. Again, thanks to everyone for a great trip, pics to come tomorrow.”

“really awesome pics Pennsy! Hope your knee is feeling better.”

“You guys stayed in a cabin?

And what the hell is "gPib"??
last edited: 2/06/05 3:03:49 PM”

“yeah and it was a very nice one too. Good deal!

great pennsylvania ice fall ball”

“I would never have guessed!
I thought that was some kinda slang.

Was this a cabin in the park?

There are some Appalachian Trail Club cabins in Pennsylvania that I have stayed in.....a mere 70-80 miles from home.”

“yeah, this cabin was in the park. They're really nice. It was different approach for a change. Very much enjoyed it. Ricketts Glen is a very neat place and definitely makes for some interesting hiking in the winter.”

“Ice, ice, baby!!”

“Here are some more pics for your enjoyment!

http://community.webshots.com/album/268288822qrhwcy
last edited: 2/06/05 9:07:38 PM”

“Hey Guys, Just a question. Did anyone get a picture of the rainbow in the waterfall? I was not sure and did not see it Posted.
Thanks”

“Sorry LJ I'm mostly color blind, and couldn't see it anyway, but I heard the others talking about it. I bet someone got a pic of it.”

“sounds like a great trip!”

“damn, I am home!
took me forever because I had to drag my ass out of REI. whooohooo...post pictures an TR one of those days!!

Was great to see ya all again, great to meet you backslacker and Lumberjack!”

“Glad to see you made it home Gem, must have been a long ride. Did ya get anything good from REI?”

“Here are my photos from the trip.

Glad to see you're home Gemini. Dang, you spent a long time at REI!”

“aww man, sounds like i missed a great trip. and those pictures are absolutely gorgeous.

i was undecided at first on whether or not just to head up on friday, but saturday i felt absolutely horrible so it was a good thing i didn't.

PS, guess those crampons didn't work out too well for you if you took a rather large fall?”

“Hey, no butt-slide photos?!?!”

“heee....butt slide photo coming up later on. LOL. I didn't upload anythign yet...nor did I write a tr yet.

hey mark0...almost called you, because I was in your area (REI).

Pennsy.... u know that really sucks that you couldn't stay.”

“Glad you had some folks to fill in the empty spots in your cabin, ENS. Pics came out nice, everyone.”

“Gemmie, you were at the Timonium REI???

I was at work from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM and then off to my brother's house for football until 11:00 PM.

I see from the photos that you are still flyin' that dang Mytchie-Bytchie.
last edited: 2/07/05 8:02:14 AM”

“Ha, phantom Soul fell cuz he didn't use the crampons at the time and decided to butt slide. He hadn't yet gained the trust of the crampons.”

“yupp been at the timonium REI. I think I was there around...pff....don't really know. lost track of time. I found it without problem, but they don't have #&%!$ in there.

I am now the proud owner of the black diamond lighthouse though... (well they have to send it to me, but I bought, or shoudl i say exchanged it)

they also took back my blister boots.”

“What the hell is a Black Diamond Lighthouse??

I dunno, they had #&%!$ in there last time I was there.”

“http://www.rei.com/product/47783167.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC

and I exchanged my boots for those:
http://www.rei.com/product/47871617.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_FOOTWEAR_TOC

I am 100% sure that tent will be great, not sure about the boots, they are light weight, but they felt sooo good.”

“http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/03/learning.iceclimbing.ap/index.html


Isn't that Phantom Soul trying to get his footing in the picture? :) j/k
last edited: 2/07/05 8:18:13 AM”

“great pics and report!”

“Oh I See, Gem!!

Spendin' that cash and talkin' that trash.”

“oh man...i can't wait to upload. i have some really good people pictures.”

“Those are the best kind!”

“lol...not spending cash...EXCHANGING stuff!! I had a good biz week, so I am allowed to spend SOME! I did spend about $150 addional, that's all though. They didn't have much, so hey...i wanted a larger backpack, but nothing!”

“Woman, you don't need a larger backpack!!

You carry too much weight already.





In the pack, that is!

There is an outfitter in Towson that has lots of packz.”

“Hey people...fabulous pics! TR by EarthNsky was well done. Thanks guys....and Gemini!”

“Ricketts Glen State Park, PA Trip Report
Another really spontaneous trip. I signed up for this trip, but really didn't think I would be able to make it. Thursday night I really, really felt like getting the hell out of here. I just canceled another trip earlier (sorry...) because I wasn't sure if I get paid on time. Well...Thursday I got paid all at once. No way I'll stay at home if I have the chance to go. I checked out Ocala, but decided to ENS's trip up in Pennsylvania. It sounded like fun.

I worked my ass of Thursday and Friday to get all the work completed that was left. Cameron came home from school around 2:45. By that time I was already packed and ready to go. I left the house around 3:00 PM.

It was going to be a long ass drive up to Pennsylvania. 12 Hours, at least that's what map quest gave me. Because I drove most through the night I was pretty sure that it probably would take be about that long. Remember...I am a night blind cow!

I did get a phone call from Pennsy, just to let me know that he is sorry that he missed me. :( Whhhaaaa!!! Now I can tell you...I cried... REALLY, I did!!! Heeheehee!! Really now though... It would've been great to see you. Sorry I hang up the phone so quickly, but hey... you went with me in the rest areas rest room. That's sort of private ya know!

Direction were pretty good, didn't get lost, found the cabin right away. I got there around 2:30AM. Wanted to open the door...but LOCKED!!! Awwww!!! The #&%!$in' door was locked!! What to do?? Hahahaha, if I would sleep like ENS, I would never get enough sleep. He must've heard me on the door and opened. it. Damn, I would've never heard that. Glad he did though.

ENS, Backslacker and PhantomSoul, the all were already at the cabin. Sleeping, but they were there. Scary thought huh?? Yeah, I know...but I am pretty brave, and I always can zap 'em with my stun gun. ;)

I went to sleep pretty damn quick and woke up the next morning around 7:00AM. Short intro because I have never met Backslacker. Hi to PhantomSoul and one more time to ENS. The guys made breakfast and Backslacker even had coffee ready for me. Damn, I almost felt like I got spoilt. They been really great! The breakfast was great too, eggs & bacon.

We drove to the visitor center to see if some more Trail Talkers would show up. By 10AM LumberJack came, but no one else. We hit the trail around 10:20AM. Awesome trail. Never saw as many iced waterfalls then on this trail.

In front of the visitor center waiting for others.

We arrived at the trail head and decided to put on the crampons now. I had problems with my crampons. First I put 'em on the wrong way...then I didn't' adjust them to those boots. Too lazy, I admit it. :( Hey... only had like 4 hours of sleep. Can you blame me? Well, that didn't work, I kept sliding out of them. That's when I realized that I lost one of the screws of the crampon. No way I could hike without that screw. Thank god someone had the ductape idea! But taping the crampon around my ankle? Hmm... that's not gonna work. I sort of tied the two ends that was normally held together by the screw together. Glad that worked out. Thank god for ductape!


Trail head sign. Note the directions to the hospital. LOL

The RIGHT way to wear crampons. NOT!!!

Almost at the beginning we had to climb backwards on some very icy deep steps. ENS took the lead as he watched Pennsy the day before. Next me... ahhhhh!!! Trust those crampons, trust...trust....yeah!!! Sure! It's somehow like repelling, the first step, then it's okay! It took me a while to realize that the crampons would really grab. Anyway, first steps then it was okay. I sort of started thinking "well if I die, please let it be painless and quick". Thinking that, it DID help a lot.

Next... LumberJack. Damn, he was down there in what? 30 seconds? How you ask?? Hahahaha, he slid down on his ass. Outch!! That's a way to do it, but hmmm.... I betcha he got a bruise or two. Now Backslackers turn. No problems. NOW!!!!!! PhantomSoul. HAHAHAHAHA, sorry dude, but I have to laugh. Well... when I saw him slide to the right, I wanted to not look, and as a matter of fact, I thought I didn't look, but I must've...because I have pictures of him falling:


PhantomSoul falling...and falling...

Like always we some some idiots that hiked the trail without crampons. At the larger waterfall we watched some ice climbers. Pretty interesting stuff. Looks a lot easier then rock climbing though. I may try that one day. It really did look like fun.

During our hike we saw signs of the pennsy animal.

I wish the pictures would show how awesome this area really looked, but it's so hard to see.
The loop totaled to about what? 8 or 9 miles?? I am not sure. It didn't feel that long, but it was a nice hike. Oh, we even had great weather. Temps in the....woahh..... what was the temperature??? I don't even know. I know it wasn't very cold.


Awesome!!

At one point we came to a very icy crossing. I can not even imagine going over this without crampons. Very fun! Of course I took a picture. The ice climbers must've added the webbing. ENS said the day before it wasn't there.


Very icy!!


So many cool iced over waterfalls.

We made it back to the trail head pretty fast, considering we took a ton of pictures. Well...fast is relative, but we still had lots of daytime left. ENS is too funny, he's so fascinated by those big Hemlock trees. Yes, I have a picture of him actually doing the tree... but you'll have to check into my webshots album.

We arrived back at the cabin. It was time for LumberJack to go home. Later we hiked to the frozen lake to see the sunset. This was my first time ever to step onto a frozen lake. I must tell you...strange feeling...at least for me. Lots of holes everywhere from the ice fishers earlier.

We watched a great sun set, took another shadow picture and went back to the cabin.


Nice!!


That's us!!!

I took only my camera to the lake, no spare battery or anything. My luck...the battery run out and I wasn't able to take many pictures. I am glad that they turned out okay though.

Damn ENS had his snow shoes with him. I have 2 pair at home!! AT HOME!!!!! There was not way to use snow shoes on our hike to the waterfalls earlier today. But snow shoes for the short hike to the lake would've been nice. At least I would've been able to try mine out for the first time. I am still a snow shoe virgin ya know!!

So the sunset was great, and not it was time to go to the gas station to get some stuff. Hmm... I am still not sure why we went. What again was so important?? LOL
Again, the guys cooked. ENS the mac and cheese, Backslacker the steaks. I washed the dishes. Can't stand it messy...

I was introduced to what's his name?? The little guy Backslacker brought with him... Awww...Yoda! That was it!! Nice guy, but doesn't talk very much. Not sure if I ever want to hike with him. The absolute vodka disappeared pretty quickly. We talked, laughed, slacked, we even took showers.

I went to bed first, around 12AM I think. I was really tired, only 4 hours sleep the night before, and the complete week before that didn't look much better either.

The next day we made sure the cabin was clean and left to the nearest cracker barrel for breakfast. Huge breakfast! After that we finally had to say our good byes. Hugs to everyone! It was nice to see you all again, and it was great to finally meet you Backslacker!!! I am sure we'll hike again in the future.

I followed ENS back to the interstate. On our way he stopped at this old mining town. The steam actually comes from the mine still burning. Wow! I never knew something can burn for over 30 years. You actually felt the ground being really warm. Glad you showed this time me!


Cetrailia, PA ghost town and mine fire. Look at the smoke! That' s only part of what we saw

This time I drove through Baltimore and DC because I wanted to stop by REI to exchange my tent and my boots. I was lucky as hell, no traffic in DC. The Super bowl is good for something! Heeheehee!!! Found the REI without a problem, and exchanged my tent for a Black Diamond Lighthouse. I also got me new boots, and some of those great superfood energy bars that I only found at REI so far. Oh, and I got to make a confession: I bought a backpacker gear guide. I know, I know.... but hey... what other gear guide can a girl take with her into the tub huh?


REI in Timonium. I had to drag my ass out of this store dammit!

The trip home was pretty event less. Lots of day dreaming, but I also was very tired, so I was glad when I finally made it home at 2:30 AM.

After thoughts:
I can't believe I slept with 3 guys all alone in one cabin.
Ice is slippery
Pennsy!!!! Where are you????????
Roam Around: It's all your fault!!!!
I really had fun.
Great to meet Backslacker and LumberJack
I walked on water!!! woahhhh!!!
hey...slacking is okay once in a while.
Scorchfire: Damn, you must be sick when I make it up there huh??
I hate zits!!
ENS, you're one cool dude! Still a dork though! Hahahahaha!!!

Trails hiked:
I have no idea right now! Got to check the map, and I have no clue where it's at. Sure as hell ain't gonna look for it now.

If you care...Webshots Pictures are here!!
”

“Sorry gem, no bruises, just very cold palms :P”

“LOL!!! lucky then. If that would've been me, I would have like 10 bruises. Hey, it was nice meeting ya!!”

“dern, Gem! You will really drive anywhere wont you!?!

Thanks for the TR and pics. It looks like an awesome area. I dont think I have ever seen such large frozen waterfalls!”

“em, though you know that by now! I DO drive anywhere! Just wish it would've been during day hours.”

“I am stupid. I didn't make it home at 2:30. I was home at 12:30. I got to the cabin at 2:30. duhhh!!! sorry 'bout that.”

“gemini, your trip reports rock!”

“thanks ENS. where's phantomsouls TR? his is gonna kick ass too.

oh, you have the link to my blog right? longer and corrected TRs.

Oh!!!
Great Pics Pennsy, ENS and Backslacker!!
last edited: 2/07/05 3:52:09 PM”

“nice pictures and trip report.. Thanks for the good times!”

“Really great Pics and TR Gem, or shall I call you Gretle, LOL! I almost fell off my chair looking at ENS's paper plate doodles! HA HA..I'm still laughing!”

“yeah, you are laughing because you know the story...us or me analizing it. LMAO

hmm...do NOT, I repeat, do NOT call me Gretel. (and yes, that's the correct spelling)

Thanks WLD. :) Oh, and your very welcome.”

“Awesome reports and pics!!!! Glad you guys had fun.”

“Yes Miss Gem ;-)”

“Okay, I cleaned up my blog a little, so now I can post the link:
http://mybackpackandme.blogspot.com/

TR's are longer, and corrected. Not sure anyone wants to read even longer TRs.
Heeheehee!!”