Hard-won miles
Last weekend, our crew hiked about 15-16 miles in Allegheny National Forest along the North Country and Minister Creek trails. For me, they were hard-won miles.
On Saturday, we started out at a trailhead on PA 666 at a place called Henry's Mill. Immediately encountering our first hill, some of the boys in the crew were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the top. Keith, Dave and I had no problems with it, though. As we headed west, the terrain was very mixed, but for the most part it was not difficult.
The scenery was brilliant, with the forest floor ablaze with red and gold leaves. None of the trees seemed to have dropped all of their leaves either, making the hike a wonderful show of nature.
As the day wore on, the miles started piling up. Shortly after lunch, we passed a hunter's station along the trail, which had a sign saying we had come 5.8 miles since the Henry's Mill trailhead, but still had 4.5 miles to go to Minister Road. Once we'd reach Minister Road, there was another mile or mile-and-a-half to reach our campsite for the night.
Because of the logistics in dropping cars at the exit point and getting the crews to the starting point, we hadn't gotten on the trail until 10:17 a.m. By the time we walked into our campsite for the night, it was just short of 6:00 p.m., making for a long day.
Wes and I calculated we had hiked about 12 miles on Saturday--with full packs--a long trail day in our books.
After setting up camp, cooking dinner and pumping water, everyone in our crew slept soundly Saturday night.
Come Sunday morning, we were up before dawn, got the food down from the bear bags, cooked a quick breakfast and broke camp. We passed the site where Troop 208 from Westlake was camped. Only two adults were up, getting their bear bag down--which, coincidentally, they had hung right in the middle of their site!
My ankles were stiff and tired as we started the hike on Sunday, plus I had volunteered to carry Keith's, Dave's and my tent, which made my pack about 4-5 lbs. heavier. I started to struggle on the climb, but made it most of the way to the Minister Creek overlook, when Keith took the tent for the rest of the way.
The overlook was jaw-dropping gorgeous. We looked out over the valley, with the rising sun illuminating the trees. Quite a beautiful site.
After leaving the overlook, we clambered down and through some huge rock outcroppings and made our way to the end of the Minister Creek loop, then down a jeep trail to the campground and parking lot. Our crew was the last one out of the woods, but we still arrived on time.
Everyone, including our first-time backpackers, had a strong sense of accomplishment in our hike. We totaled about 15-16 miles on the trip, not back for a weekend's walk in the woods.
On Saturday, we started out at a trailhead on PA 666 at a place called Henry's Mill. Immediately encountering our first hill, some of the boys in the crew were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the top. Keith, Dave and I had no problems with it, though. As we headed west, the terrain was very mixed, but for the most part it was not difficult.
The scenery was brilliant, with the forest floor ablaze with red and gold leaves. None of the trees seemed to have dropped all of their leaves either, making the hike a wonderful show of nature.
As the day wore on, the miles started piling up. Shortly after lunch, we passed a hunter's station along the trail, which had a sign saying we had come 5.8 miles since the Henry's Mill trailhead, but still had 4.5 miles to go to Minister Road. Once we'd reach Minister Road, there was another mile or mile-and-a-half to reach our campsite for the night.
Because of the logistics in dropping cars at the exit point and getting the crews to the starting point, we hadn't gotten on the trail until 10:17 a.m. By the time we walked into our campsite for the night, it was just short of 6:00 p.m., making for a long day.
Wes and I calculated we had hiked about 12 miles on Saturday--with full packs--a long trail day in our books.
After setting up camp, cooking dinner and pumping water, everyone in our crew slept soundly Saturday night.
Come Sunday morning, we were up before dawn, got the food down from the bear bags, cooked a quick breakfast and broke camp. We passed the site where Troop 208 from Westlake was camped. Only two adults were up, getting their bear bag down--which, coincidentally, they had hung right in the middle of their site!
My ankles were stiff and tired as we started the hike on Sunday, plus I had volunteered to carry Keith's, Dave's and my tent, which made my pack about 4-5 lbs. heavier. I started to struggle on the climb, but made it most of the way to the Minister Creek overlook, when Keith took the tent for the rest of the way.
The overlook was jaw-dropping gorgeous. We looked out over the valley, with the rising sun illuminating the trees. Quite a beautiful site.
After leaving the overlook, we clambered down and through some huge rock outcroppings and made our way to the end of the Minister Creek loop, then down a jeep trail to the campground and parking lot. Our crew was the last one out of the woods, but we still arrived on time.
Everyone, including our first-time backpackers, had a strong sense of accomplishment in our hike. We totaled about 15-16 miles on the trip, not back for a weekend's walk in the woods.
posted by Joe Wollet at 9:12 AM
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