Quehanna Trail in August

“Ha ha, beats the hell out of the foil pack tuna I'm bringin'! I'm just to lazy to do all that prep.....”

“So your in Back?”

“who's in back?

I call shot gun!”

“Yes Sir, we'll be there prolly late Friday night....;-)”

“I got in touch with Daydreamer and she is still thinking of coming. She would like to come, but isn't sure just yet.”

“I hope to get there between 9-10 on Friday night. Less than a week to go! Woohoo! I so need a good backpacking trip.”

“OMFG tell me about it ENS!!!!!”

“You need a trip? I have not been out since March!

Weather so far is looking good! A little hot, but no rain.”

“it's been two weeks since I've gone backpacking... sigh.. I've only logged 450 miles and 33 bag nights so far this year.. sheesh”

“The area looks like they got a good soaking over the weekend. Should make stream crossings outstanding!

Little chance at some rain for Friday, but Saturday is holding so far.

Are we excited yet?”

“Ohhhh yeah!”

“What time do you want to get started on Friday? Is 8AM to early/late?”

“just tell me when to be at your door. 8 is fine. i'll camp out on your doorstep if that will give me an earlier start.”

“You still remember how to get to the house, yes?”

“yes, i do. thanks.”

“Don't know if you guys are interested, but there is a local place (in Clearfield) you may want to check out - maybe Sunday? If you ever get the chance you should stop in.

http://www.dennysbeerbarrelpub.com/greet.htm

When I am up there, we usually wrap things up at the Medix Run Hotel on Route 555. It is on the opposite end of the Q-Highway from Clearfield, but the Elk Burgers rock! And many Yuengling draft has been consumed therein.”

“I am sooooooooooooooooo with that plan...”

“Sounds good!”

“packed last night for the trip. it's been so busy at work i have been working 12 hour days. glad to get that over. it's not a big deal because pretty much everything is always packed and ready to go except that I just got back from the TT "kids trip" that birch and sass held and much of my bp stuff is in a state of chaos.”

“I started packing up stuff last week. I have to get a few additional items (probably tonight) then everything will go into the pack.”

“weather doesn't look bad. It's not as ideal as it was earlier in the week. Hopefully most of the rain will stay away.

from www.noaa.gov for Clearfield, PA
Friday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61.

Saturday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 85.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. Chance of precipitation is 40%”

“I wish Friday's low was Saturday's low.

Anything will be better than what happened to me last time on this trail.”

“high of 85 and 62 at night? what happened to my "cool night"?!?!

oh well...”

“This will be a lot different from the 2 previous trips I have made this year. Almost every night I have been out has been under 32 degrees.

Don't even need a bag Friday and Saturday!”

“well, it could be cooler where we will be camping. Clearfield maybe lower in the valley. I am guessing we will be camping around 2000 feet, so the temp will likely be a few degrees cooler than that forecasted.”

“Bring it on!!”

“wonder which shelter I should use... hammock or henry shire tarp tent, hmmmmmmmmmmm”

“tarp tent”

“With the cloud cover I don' texpect it to be too much cooler, but maybe a few degrees. And bring earplugs incase we get the thunderstorms. The loudest and longest lasting thunder I have ever heard was while camping at the same site. It was still pretty dam cool!!

I'm going with a tarp.”

“as will I...”

“I think it was Sanders draft where we camped during a driving rainstorm. That was some nasty #&%!$! We hit Arch Spring and saw the weather rolling in! No sooner did we turn when the rain started to fall. It rained for 10 hours straight.”

“lol... I've heard Pennsy tell the tale of that trip many times. He said he got as far as the trailhead. He doesn't hike in severe t'storms.

The loudest thunder I ever heard was at Ice Water Springs Shelter on the AT in the Smokies. 6000 feet up and I thought the world was exploding.
last edited: 8/22/06 9:27:43 PM”

“Yea, he hiked in about a mile with us, then turned around. He messed up his hand the previous weekend and didn't want to do further damage. The weekend we were there was the start of the elk rut.”

“It was just a little drizzle.”

“The thunder rolled constantly for 10-15 seconds at a time. I had never been outside during something like that, let alone in a position where it seemed like I was in the middle of the storm. After I came back I posted a question asking if a sleeping pad would help in any way from being killed by lightning. The answer is no, and the aluminum tent poles weren't reassuring either. Being so close to trees all of the time is not good, but hey, we like trees right? So the answer to all of that was to put in ear plugs and try to sleep.”

“Right conk! I pitched my tent near a small trickle of a stream that night and went to bed. When I woke up at 7 the next morning, a river was flowing 3 feet from the entrance of my tent.”

“I remember how dark it was during that rain. Shut your headlamp off and you couldn’t see your hand in front of you face.”

“All I remember was climbing into the tent and passing out.”

“I'll be there a little earlyer than expected. Is there still room on site 63? Anyone want anything for friday night? I'm psyched!! BOOYAA!!!”

“You betcha. When do you think you will be there? I am guessing we will arrive sometime between 4 and 5 local time.

If you will be in around this time, we can all catch some dinner.

Hey, you see the weather? Today they are expecting some pretty serious storms. Saturday just the isolated #&%!$ so no big whoop.

Rain + Downhill = kick ass stream crossings!”

“I prolly be there around 7ish, I don't think I can leave any earlier then 4:00pm. I'll try though.....”

“Okay”

“vatt's zee vord on Phantom Von Soul?

keep a light on for me, gents. I maybe a late arrival, post 9pm.
last edited: 8/24/06 10:59:54 AM”

“I was just about to ask you that.”

“Quehanna Trail = Bridges Built By Chain Gang Over Streams. Maybe one will get washed out for you, although it would take a 10 foot wave or so...

Actually, Jerry's Run will have a few crossings, so I should say you'll have plenty of chances to get yrou feet wet.”

“Soul Man can't make it.”

“Yep, Jerry Run was really moving the last time and I think we all got our feet wet, except for Jeff. He changed into tevas.

Porcupine Draft had a bunch as well.

Too bad about George.”

“should i bring my instep crampons? :)

hey, we wanna eat in camp or out at a local pub or what not tomorrow evening. i just don't want to pack food in a cooler that i won't eat. i am cool either way.”

“What do you need those for?

I figured we could catch a real meal at a nearby place. Cool?

I need to make a liquor stop as well.”