end of summer special on the Chuck Keipe r Trail

“hiking the entire double loop over a three day weekend in the middle of September for the final trip of summer 2006! We will start with a small night hike in on Thursday night, September 14th.

There are options if you can't make it for the entire hike.

The CKT is a 50 mile double loop.”

“bump”

“Thanks for the invite ENS, but I'm getting ready to get started on a big home improvement project so I might be off the trail until October.”

“I plan to hike the Chuck Keiper Trail clockwise, starting with a nighthike on Thursday, September 14th.

Day 1, Thursday, 9/14 - meet at the trailhead with a view. I hope to be there around 5ish. I will take a half day at work. I hope to start hiking by 6.

I plan on hiking around 6 miles to camp on Boggs Run.

Day 2, Friday, 9/15 - hike from Boggs Run to the junction with the East Branch Trail. There is a campsite there and this will be the diggs for the night. Anyone coming in Friday night will have an easy 2 mile night hike from the trail and anyone meeting early Saturday morning should be able to find us fairly easy. The mileage this day will be around 15 miles.

Day 3, Saturday, 9/16 - Continue hiking the CKT clockwise and camp on Yost Run. The mileage will probably be around 18-20 miles for the day, so we will be getting an early start and a late finish.

Day 4, Sunday, 9/17 - Hike from Yost Run back to the trailhead. The mileage will be 12-15 miles. We should get another early start.

The CKT is one of the nicest trails in PA and is well regarded. It is also a challenging trail. This should be a very rewarding trip whether you come for all of it or just part of it.”

“I might be able to work it out that I can leave even earlier on Thursday the 14th. moohoohararraddyharr har..

so far, I am the only bonehead signed up.
last edited: 8/15/06 5:08:01 PM”

“I now have a full day off on Thursday September 14th, so now I am deciding whether to get there Wedensday night or Thursday morning.

At any rate, I think it makes more sense to do this trip over 4 days rather than 3. I did the Black Forest Trail in May in 3 days and pushed the comfort level.

Even with 4 days, this will still be a difficult trip with several of the days nearing 15 miles.”

“I did it in 4. You'll be fine. :)”

“i think you can do it in 3.

i'm a maybe, though I have a bushwhack in mind.”

“yeah, I think so. Now, if only I had some Boneheads err comrades, to join me.”

“I could, but camping seems easier with three, plus, it might be more enjoyable in 4. Bushwhack?!!! That sounds interesting.. Hope you can make it Jmitch.”

“i'd like to follow fish dam and dennison trails through fish dam wild area, used to be the route of the CKT before the tornadoes hit that section of trail in 1985 and the trail was re-routed.”

“that sounds pretty cool. I would be in that area on Sunday and Sunday's hike is pretty small, so that could fit in really well.

here is my tentative plan, from the trip page:

I plan to hike the Chuck Keiper Trail clockwise, starting with a nighthike on Thursday, September 14th. The CKT is a 50 mile loop trail with a 2 mile conector trail.The trail traverses some difficult terrain as it climbs in and out of numerous gorges and glens on the Allegheny Plateau in Central Pennsylvania. It is a very scenic hike.

This is my tentative plan. It is subject to change, hell, I've changed it six times already. Jmitch mentioned that he may go and he has a bushwhck in mind.

Day 1, Thursday, 9/14 - meet at the trailhead with a view before 9am. Camp at Cranberry Run.

Day 2, Friday, 9/15 - hike from Cranberry Run and finish the eastern half and then onto the western half, camping at Eddy Lick Run.

Day 3, Saturday, 9/16 - Continue hiking the CKT clockwise, through the scenic Yost Run Gorge. Camping will either be on Burns Run or Fish Dam Run depending how we feel.

Day 4, Sunday, 9/17 - have a short hike back to the trailhead with a view.

There is potential for a night hike and camping Wedensday night the 13th. IF I do that, I may camp somewhere on the East Branch Trail.

The CKT is one of the most scenic trails in PA and is well regarded. It is also a challenging trail. This should be a very rewarding trip whether you come for all of it or just part of it.”

“the mileage will probably work out to be, more or less, 3 15 miles days and 1 10 mile day.”

“bump to see if there is any interest”

“bumpidy bump”

“although a long monsterous weekend of a hike... it's going to be a good'un! The legs will burn, but the eyes will be pleased and the campsites will be nice.”

“I'll mostly join you unless the weather forecast gets real ugly. Ending my bp summer sabbatical, this will be my first since the Dix trip in early July.

4 days to do 50 miles and you're calling it monsterous? Are you getting soft, kid? ;o)”

“well, most of the miles will be in the first three days and on Sunday, if jmitch goes, we'll do some bushwhacking.

me soft? never!!!!!!!”

“I just signed up, but as a maybe. I plan on going, but since this will be my first bp since early July, I may not go if the weather looks really bad.”

“I can't wait.”

“bump... this trip is a week away..

I'm thinking about heading up Wedensday night.. What say you Pennsy?

Jmitch, what are the chances you'll be hiking with us?

anyone else up for a good 4 day jaunt in central Penn's Woods?”

“last I saw the weather, it looked iffy.. that was on weather.com..and there is plenty of time for it to change and it always does.. plus weather.com is always iffy itself.. It's too early for NOAA. Shall wait and see.”

“the weather looks pretty good for the weekend. Not too hot and only rain on thursday...

who's going?”

“bump”

“here is the forecast for Renovo, PA, near the CKT.

Wednesday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 55. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Thursday: A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 74. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Thursday Night: A chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 55.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 55.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.
-
doesn't look too bad.
-
if jmitch can't make it, Pennsy, what do you think about the Adirondacks or an AT section (Harpers Ferry to Shenandoah)?”

“I'm up for anything. A Wednesday night start is no good, though.”

“cool, so now we just need to see what Mitchell is doing. Bobo said he maybe up for finishing the Daks this weekend, he just has to see if he can get some things done for work.

It's supposed to rain Wedensday night, so I don't want to go Wedensday night either.”

“the weather looks great for the Dacks also, at least Fri thru Sun. Thurs is iffy for Pa and Ny, so if you decide to make the trip a 3 dayer, I won't complain. Just let me know when you hear from the others and what you come up with. I kinda need to go backpacking again. I hope I remember how to.”

“I was also thinking it would be cool to hike the AT from Harpers Ferry to Shenandoah NP. It's about 58 miles. The weather is the same for VA as PA and NY. speaking of which, do you have the maps for that section? I think MD/WV/northern VA are all lumped together. The famous Roller Coaster is part of this section.

I haven't given up on Thursday yet.

You can attend the ENS school of backpacking!!! ;)
last edited: 9/11/06 6:44:06 PM”

“I'm still thinking about an Adirondack Dash this weekend, but not sure if I can pull it off...”

“Oh, that school would be a hoot, kinda like Animal House.

Not that it matters to me, but I thought you were really stoked to do the Keiper?

Yeah, I'm sure I have those maps around here somewhere. So, the itinerary could be anywhere from Shenandoah to the Dacks, about a 600 mile range. Lots of possibilities between those 2 points. That could be your class, Professor. Pre Prep 101.”

“my school is very textbook intensive and has no training in the field.

I'm thinking it's going to be the Chuck Keiper Trail this weekend, unless Bobo can do the Daks. The weather looks decent this weekend. The preciptation is 40% on thursday, down from 50% earlier today. I say we focus on the East Loop Thursday.

I'm kind of broke right now for a trip to the daks.

-
Thursday: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 72. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Thursday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. Calm wind becoming north between 4 and 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 75.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?CityName=Renovo&state=PA&site=CTP

-
I'm going to try and get in touch with crazypace and see if he wants to meet up with us over the weekend. He may be due for a backpacking trip with all the over time he worked the past month.”

“Okee dokee, we'll wait and see what Senor Bob-E-Low says. If it turns out that we do the Dacks, we could car pool and save ya bucks. Also, I think Bobo would only be able to do Fri-Sun which would eliminate the thurs rain threat.”

“Bobo go no..

Chuck Keiper Trail it is.

how's meeting at 9am on thursday?”

“Sounds good !”

“you coming MarkO?

Crazypace needs a night out wants to meet us late Friday night.. I just got to think of a way for him to do that. An easy night hike.

Onr thing I was thinking, is we would hike the East loop Thursday and Friday.. Maybe not start until afternoon on thursday (between 12-1) and camp at Boggs Run Thursday night. Friday night we could camp somewhere on the connector trail where Tood can find us easily.

Then we would have to hump the west loop Saturday and Sunday. 34 miles in two days.

There has to be a better way but I don't have a map and this trail only seems to have one trailhead.
last edited: 9/12/06 7:42:01 PM”

“either that or we could hike 24 miles and do the entire east loop Friday (avoiding rain on thursday), camp at the connector, meet up with Todd Friday night and hike the west loop saturday and sunday.. Todd hasn't hiked much this summer, so my only worry is that could be a lot of mileage for him. That would be 16-18 miles a day.
last edited: 9/12/06 8:16:57 PM”

“Where's Jeff when you need him. I have the map but can't offer much help. It doesn't show if there is parking at any of the road crossings.

I'd rather not leave any earlier than 6am Thurs and it looks to be a 3 1/2 hour drive for me. So, 9:30 or 10 would work better for me, unless you choose the 12-1 option.”

“I'm thinking we need 4 days to backpack the CKT and the forecast pretty much sucks for Thursday.

Plus, I can't figure out a way to get CP onto the trail to meet us.... I am looing at someother options. I'd really like to hike something new. Something with in a three or so hour drive of Allentown...”

“I'm checking out the Susquehannock Trail right now.”

“Pennsy, here is an idea..

Thursday and Friday, we could hike that section of the AT we need from NY to CT, I think it's about 25 miles. Thursday, we could hike from NY 52 and hike north to the Telephone Pioneers Shelter, which would be 11 miles. We could get a late start on Thursday too. Maybe start between 11-12.

Friday we hike 15 miles north to the Bulls Bridge and close the gap that we left back in May. Then we go to northern CT and southern Mass and do the Riga Plateau section.

Ending where we finished last Thanksgiving. We could start Friday night (meeting up with Todd), in Mass on Lake Buel Rd or rt 23 and hike south to the Tom Leonard Lean-to. If we start at Lake Buel, it's a one mile hike, Rt 23 it's a two mile night hike.

saturday we hike from Tom Leonard south 14 miles to Glen Brook/Hemlocks Lean-tos.

Sunday we would have a 10 mile hike to the Underhill trailhead where we finished last Thanksgiving.

All told, that would be a pretty good section of trail completed.”

“maybe we could see LT hiker..”

“I got dizzy reading that but I'm up for it. 80% chance of getting wet on thurs though, using Danbury.”

“Sorry Dudes :(

Catch you next time, have an awesome-o weekend!”

“yeah, thursday will suck, but the rest of the weekend should be good and then we can close that gap.. if you're up for it, I am too! The section in Mass is supposed to be one of the nices on all of the AT (per a recent issue of backpacker mag).

Thursday's hike will be between 9-10 miles and looks like a speed bump section.. I'm going to take the Henry Shire, but I hope to score the lean-to.”

“tomorrow's weather for Danbury is not looking good:

Thursday: Periods of rain, mainly after 8am. High near 66. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Got another plan?”

“It's true! I can get out this weekend! Ehw... and I'm starting to think about the High Peaks again, uhOh!!! Any interest in heading up to the DAKs? I need just -4- more peaks and it IS my birthday! Is it your birthday too yeah!?

Hmmm, Hmmm, any takers or do you want to stick to the Chuck Keiper/MA/CT/Denali/British Columbia plan?

Maybe Crazypace would be interested in car-pooling?”

“Ok I am interested.”

“I talked to Pennsy and he is in, we'll head up Friday morning.

I talked to crazypace briefly, he is interested, but not sure yet. He is going to call me back.”