Last Minute "Shay" Ride

“Sentiero Di Shay is Italian for "The Path of the Shay. This hike described in the Black Forest Trail Guide Book as follows:

"The Sentiero Di Shay is 13.4 Miles long. This is a good trail for children. The loop trail parallels Route 44 with one portion being on the east side and the other on the west side. One can make other loops by cutting across country on the unmarked trails and State Forest roads.

"The highlights of this trail are the cuts and fills on the railroad grades, the fire trails, the open meadows and the diverse forests."

We'll spend Friday evening at a campsite near by (TBA), and head out Saturday morning to do about 7 miles to the intersection with the Francis X. Kennedy X-country ski trail. Those desiring a longer hike can do that 5 mile loop. Sunday we will complete the rest of the Shay trail. Roughly 6 miles or so.

This is not a buttkicker in keeping with my own limitations and conditioning. But it sounds to be a good hike and the chance for a couple more bag nights in July. Iff'n you want a buttkicker.... head to the Daks for the 14er. Otherwise, I would love to have you join me for this.”

“It is a nice hike - we did a section of the Shay on our BFT trip back in March as the BFT was rather damp (read frickin' flooded). Tis a nice walk in the woods.”

“You guys in the PA/NY area who feel like buttkickers are the only offerings... here's your chance.”

“What else do you have to do this weekend. Wait... I'm not sure my ego could handle the answers.... forget I asked.”

“What Roam Said.”

“The current plan is to camp Friday night about 1 mile in from the end of the trail. There is a campsite at the branch of Young Woman's Creek about milepost 12.35. The total length is 13.4 miles. So we will be doing the last mile a few times but all in all that is a very convenient spot to shoot for.

The Trailhead is shared with the Pine Bog trail (blazed blue rectangle) The "Shay" is blazed Blue Circles. I plan to start out from the trailhead between 9:00 and 10:00 AM to make sure I have a leisurely hike to the campsite for Saturday night. This is not a race and not a kickbutt. Bring your kids.

The trailhead is 14.5 miles from the intersection of Rt. 44 &664 in Haneyville. Stay on Rt. 44. The trailhead is on the East side of Rt. 44.

I am going to try and convince "The Girl" to go with me on this. How successful that will be is any bodies guess.”

“Aw Man Rev. sounds like a great trip. sorry I cant Make it.”

“Well... "The Girl" is a no go. :?(

the "no potties" was the deal killer. Oh well, can't say I'm surprised.

But I am open to kids on this hike. I don't see that as a problem. Bring them along. Just don't make me do this by myself. My wife will be happier. hmmm... anything else in my bag of guilt?”

“Dude, I'd go but the trailhead is a bit of a drive. Plus, I'm plannin on spending some quaility time in the La Garitas of Southern CO methinks.

:)”

“This trail seems to be used mostly as a link between various parts of the Black Forest Trail. It is listed under the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy website as a grass/ballast surface. The Shay locomotives, from which the trail gets its name, were specialized engines used in mountainous terrain. The image here is one of the narrow gauge engines that operated on these lines.



According to what I have seen on line, some of the ties and ballast can still be found along the route. There were two rail road companies that owned shay engines in this are. Cammel & Black Forest Railroad and Slate Run Railroad. For any rail freaks out there, details of the engines that ran here can be found at http://www.shaylocomotives.com/index.html

The cuts and fill on this trail were all made by hand using only black powder, picks, shovels and other hand implements. Walk the path of history this weekend. And bring the kids.”

“I am done enticing. Obviously it has done no good.

So now I am begging......

PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS ALONE. I'M SCARED OF THE DARK. A BEAR MIGHT EAT ME. I COULD GET LOST AND NEED A PERSONAL LOCATER BEACON (which I don't have) TO BE RESCUED.

and last but not least. I'll pay. shhh...
Don't spread this around, but I'll give whoever comes along the money I have in my pockets right now. Don't know how much is? Well now that's part of the gamble isn't it.
You'll just have to trust me. >:?)”

“Monitoring the weather. The chance of thundershowers has gone down but is still there. So I'll know by this afternoon whether I will brave the elements tonight or rework the plan. A rework would include my bicycle on the trail tomorrow which is supposed to be a beautiful day.

We'll see.”

“Ever have one of those days? Ain't gonna make it out tonight. Had do deal with some school stuff ofr my daughter, getting out of the house late this afternoon means my wife don't get dinner, rain is forecast for the area. Solo is not where my heart is at the moment, two round trips on the car is more gas than one. and I could go on.. but why bother.

Gonna take the bikes out tomorrow into those woods and check out some ski trails along with the Shay. "The Girl" will go with me on that.

So all you folk who didn't sign up... You must have known something I didn't.”

“Update....

"The Girl" and I took the bikes on the shay trail yesterday for a short ways. We found out osme very interesting things. Our hybrids are not intended for ski trail singletracking. The suspension is not active enuf, the bottom bracket is too low, there was a lot of blowdown, and she is not a good enuf rider to fake it. While she is skilled on the road, she got freaked by passing trees inches away while bouncing over roots and rocks. Ultimately it was not going to be fun. So we bagged it.

She would like to hike it at some point she said, although I am not sure how serious she was. She wants to do it as a day hike. 13.4 miles is certainly doable that way but I am not sure when we could attempt it due to schedule conflicts.

We bagged the "Shay" and headed over to Rattlesnake Rock to ride the Pine Creek rail Trail for a while. By this time it was getting late and we didn't have a lot of time. But we got some recon in for the Pine Creek Pedal. I'll post what few pics I have later.”

“

The trail here looked great but it was soon replaced by a narrow singletrack thru the woods. Lovely woodland scenery. "The Girl" found some dookey nice and black.. in golf ball sized clumps clustered together in a heap. Fortuantely she didn't step in it. But I can surmise Yogi was waiting for a pic-i-nic basket somewhere.”