Mid State Trail TR

“http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578868416RwHEPa?vhost=outdoors

The Mid State Trail is the longest in PA, stretching for over 300 miles between MD and NY. This past weekend we did a 25 mile section that traversed the deepest part of the Pine Creek Gorge.

I arrived at Little Pine State Park before midnight on Friday; the bright moon illuminated the canyons and high plateaus. Little Pine is a great state park with some excellent hiknig trails, not to mention fishing and kayaking.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/littlepine.aspx

The white pine trees were black as the moon shown off the canopy. After setting up my tent I took a short walk; it was so bright you didn't need a light, and you could only see the brightest stars in the sky. I crawled in my tent and went to sleep. The rest of the gang got there before 1 am.

We got up and the morning was chilly. We soon began the hike down the MST. The fall foliage was incredible with bright yellow and gold, with some red and orange. We crossed over Dam Run with its waterslides and a deep pool. Next was a steep climb up the plateau to the top where the trail leveled off with thick mountain laurel in an oak forest. The one drawback was a large gas pad right next to the trail, that will be used for gas drilling.

We descended to Ramsey Run, which has carved a deep gorge. We were spread out, so I ate lunch alone where the streams meet at a campsite, and continued on for another climb. At the top was a view of the Pine Creek Gorge with incredible red fall foliage. A huge descent followed.

The trail crosses Pine Creek via the rail trail and we began another climb out of the gorge with several steep sections. The following descent was into Gamble Run, my favorite section. I took a blue side trail to a great view from a cliff. The trail descends into this gorge with rock outcrops and beautiful fall foliage. At the bottom was the creek with a waterslide and pool, where we camped for the night. We had a good fire and went to bed after 10 pm.

The next morning was warm but overcast. The trail climbs over 1,300 feet in 1.5 miles back out of the gorge with some views at the top. We passed a crystal clear spring and hiked along a small creek with hemlocks. The trail went up and then down as it gradually descended to Woolrich, where it reached an open field out of town with a nice view.

Woolrich is a quaint little town that is home to the Woolrich factory store; the park next to it has a shelter. We hiked through this small town and reached PA 150, where the cars were parked.

This is a tough section of the MST, with several great views and camping. The fall foliage was incredible. Enjoy the pics.”

“Thanks for the info! I have hiked all of the Mid State in Rothrock SF and have been slowly working my way north, section by section. I have been dying to do the section you just did, but it is hard to get my friends to drive that far (it is about a 4 hour drive from Philly) and then make them spend an hour setting up a car shuttle. Thanks for sharing.

It is my favorite trail in PA, by far.”

“I mighta had to stop at the Woolrich factory store.”

“Saja,

The northern section is excellent, a favorite of many backpackers.”