Prelude to our summer travels
19-22 May 2019
As this summer’s travels fast approach, O and I decide a training backpack trip is a good idea. We want to ensure that our knees, backs, and equipment are really ready for the rigorous five day-four night expedition along New Brunswick’s Fundy Footpath, that we have planned as the first stop on this year’s adventure. After researching hiking options near home, I have settled on a loop hike along Pennsylvania’s Black Forest Trail. (I highly recommend The Black Forest Trail A Backpacker’s Interpretive Guide by Chuck Dillon. It not only provides detailed trail information, but also lots of interesting tidbits about the geology and natural history of the area.) By linking with cross country ski trails near Slate Run, Pennsylvania we should have a three day and two night approximately 23-24 mile circuit. Faster hikers could do this trip in a two day hike. O and I face a small planning problem: we have limited time due to summer travel preparations and, after last fall’s rainy Rainier trip, we are looking to cherry pick our weather (one of the advantages of being retired!) But this has been one of the rainiest Mays I can remember. We had been considering doing this trip last week, but decided that the rain would likely have a negative impact on trail conditions. Finally, this week a three day sunny weather window has opened.
It’s funny, but when we are on the road, it does not seem to take long at all to pack for a backpacking trip. All of our equipment and food is right there in Vincent, our van. Packing after being home for seven months however is a completely different matter. Luckily, I have already planned and dehydrated our main meals. We choose a variety of snacks for our “lunches.” By the time our food barrels are packed, they weigh almost twice as much as they should. (We have found that allowing about 600 grams of food per person per day is a formula that works well for us.) O and I ruthlessly pare our supplies down to just one barrel, a much more reasonable amount of food for this hike. Clothing and equipment is much easier to pack. We’ve been using the same equipment and layering system for years.
We reserve a room at Hotel Manor in Slate Run for the night before our hike is to begin. The hotel is situated right where Slate Run joins Pine Creek. O and I have hiked nearby before during the fall months, but we are stunned by the beauty of this valley in springtime. Wildflowers abound, the hillsides are green and the river is running high. The hotel, itself, has a cozy restaurant with a deck overlooking Pine Creek. It seems to be quite popular with bicyclists and motorcyclists. We have a lovely early dinner and then go off to drive the forest roads and see if we can set waypoints with my new Garmin Instinct watch. I believe the trails are well-blazed, but we would like the security of knowing where important intersections are located along our way.
We are up early Monday morning to begin our hike. The Black Forest trailhead is just up the road from Hotel Manor. We park our car, carefully place two small dishes of mothballs underneath (this is supposed to keep porcupines, who enjoy chewing car wiring, away,) and proceed down a short but steep descent to the trail register. Our map mentions a wet foot crossing soon after beginning the hike, but the BFT was rerouted in 2014 over a new footbridge located behind Hotel Manor. No wet feet here! We continue along the trail which ascends relentlessly uphill for the first few miles. It’s a good workout! We pass some Pennsylvania ‘hoodoos’ along the way and stop for a snack break at a grassy vista. We then continue along the trail, passing a spring at about three miles. Just past 5 miles we stop for another brief rest and a snack. After our break, we proceed a short distance along the trail. I am in front when I spy a large snake slithering along mid-trail, it’s rattle is clearly visible! We cannot proceed further as there is no way around, so I take some photos from a safe distance while we wait for the rattler to let us pass. It finally slithers off the trail, and O and I proceed, tapping our trekking poles on the rocks to warn any hidden snakes of our approach.
The trail becomes easier at this point, and in another mile we arrive at a second beautiful vista. Along the way we pass another hiker who is day hiking parts of the BFT in training for her last section of the Appalachian Trail. She mentions we will likely meet again tomorrow. Soon after the 6 mile vista there is a steep descent along a stream bed. O and I pick our way carefully downward. We change to sandals for a wet foot crossing of Red Run. The ice cold water is refreshing!
We soon encounter a couple hiking in to a campsite with their two dogs for an overnight. They have hiked in this area for years and tell us there are good campsites ahead. After we cross Morris Run on a wooden footbridge we are ready to set up camp and call it a day. We enjoy the roar of the rushing water and the birdsong filling the air.
We are up quite early Tuesday morning. After striking camp we proceed up the trail a bit before stopping for breakfast. We do not have very far to travel today so we take our time, enjoying the trees, the breeze, the blue sky and the birds. Soon we cross Route 44 and find a campsite where the BFT crosses County Line Branch. This campsite is right at the juncture of the Sentiero Di Shay trail and the BFT. The Sentiero Di Shay is the high water route for the BFT here. We plan to follow this route tomorrow. Soon after setting up camp our friend from the previous day passes by. She validates our choice of the SDS trail. The BFT is very wet. She reports she has filled her boots at least four times on today’s hike.
We spend another restful evening enjoying our surroundings. Warblers and woodpeckers abound in the trees. Dinner is a spicy cassoulet. Brownies for dessert. Yum! Once again we are to bed early. Tomorrow will be a longer day hiking out and we will have a four hour drive home after that, so we hope to get an early start.
We are up early again, as planned. Our breakfast casserole is sure to sustain us for most of today’s hike. We set off along the Sentiero Di Shay. It is an easy trail that travels across the plateau, but there are a few boggy spots along the way. We are glad we did not try to follow the BFT here. After about 2.6 miles, the SDS meets up with the Blackberry Trail. We turn left (eastward) here and follow this cross country ski trail back across Route 44 and onto the Pine Bog Trail. The Pine Bog Trail is a loop trail. We follow it in a counterclockwise direction to a road that proceeds from the end of the loop out to Manor Fork Road. We turn right and walk not quite a half mile down to the intersection with Pine Hollow Road where the BFT crosses the road. It would be hard to miss the orange blazes. We rejoin the BFT here at about mile 37.5.
The trail continues across the plateau until it descends into Foster Hollow. It’s a steep descent, but it seems like a piece of cake after Monday’s descent along Red Run. O and I stop for some lunch down in the hollow. We watch the cascading stream as we eat. Now we climb back out of the hollow, our last significant climb of the trip. Soon we are descending again along a narrow ridge. Our hiking guidebook instructs us to watch for rattlesnakes. We stop to admire vistas and more of Pennsylvania’s version of hoodoos. I climb down the sunny rocks, having missed the spot where the BFT turns right. As soon as I reach the next ledge, I hear a very loud rattle! I didn’t know I could scramble back up rocks so quickly!! O and I follow the BFT to the right, but are almost immediately stopped in our tracks by another rattler on the sunny trail. We wait patiently for the snake to decide to move, while musing that this ledge must be snake heaven. There are all sorts of crevices here to hide in and, no doubt, good food sources too, as it seems mice might also find the area inviting.
We continue to wind our way downward across Slate Run Road, following the BFT back along the stream to our car. The area around our Subaru unsurprisingly smells vaguely of mothballs. O and I make ourselves presentable enough for a much-anticipated stop for dinner at Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA. Jazz (our car) starts up easily. No signs of porcupine chewing here. We are soon on the road towards dinner and home.