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This is the Past Hikes Blog where fellow hikers have posted logs about their trips 05/23/2009- Loyalsock Trail, PA Backpacking Trip Below are some pictures from the Loyalsock Trail, PA Backpacking Trip which was held the weekend of May 23-24, 2009.
Below are some pictures from our Annapolis Rocks Camp and hike that was held the weekend of September 26-27, 2009.
We met at the Gore Grocery Store on Saturday, October 10, 2009 to begin this hike. It was an overcast day and we were concerned about rain. We shuttled a car around to Loman Branch, WV near the town of Lehew, then returned to Gore and started this 13.6 mile 2 day moderate to difficult backpacking trip.
There were four of us on this one: me, Chris I, Bill I and Charlie J. We took the 1.1 mile white blazed Gore Connector Trail to the Tuscarora, then turned right. We then passed the Howze Camp site. The next 6 miles would be along rocky trail that was mostly uphill. We heard alot of gunshots in the woods and saw some 4 wheelers. The scenery was sort of mundane at first, but then got interesting as we approached the Pinnacle Shelter. We saw alot of cliffs and caves.
As we approached the shelter, we crossed a dry stream bed. I jokingly said 'I hope this is not the water source for the shelter.' It was. We were somewhat panic stricken at first. We searched up and down this creek bed for any sign of water. There was none. So we discussed the situation. We had roughly 1 liter of water for each of us. This had to last us from Saturday afternoon until we got off of this mountain. So we used half a liter to cook a meal that evening. We then nursed the remaining half liter all night and until mid day Sunday.
The night was cool but not cold. Bill, Chris and I pitched our tents in the shelter. I know it's verboden but we figured that no one else would show up. Charlie pitched his tent by the shelter. Charlie did hear something roaming around his tent that night making a throaty sound. Bill thought is was a possum.
So on Sunday morning, October 11, we got up early, did about a half mile up to a good view at Pinnacle Peak. We then crossed a powerline, another blip, did some ridging for awhile and then, we saw a bear about 20 feet from the trail. He was a small one and ran away when he saw us. We then started a long down along switchbacks to the Lucas Woods campsite. We then hiked on a dirt road for about 1.5 miles, then paved road for about a half mile, then we reached our shuttled vehicle and the end of the hike.
This was a decent section of trail. It was well blazed and had two camp sites and a nice shelter along it. The cliffs and caves right before the shelter were neat as well. The only downer was the lack of water. I hope that we get alot of snow this winter to replenish the water table. We really need it.
This 5 mile day hike took place on Saturday, January 3, 2008. We met around 9ish at the McKeldin Area of Patapsco Valley State Park, MD. This area of the park was named for Theodore McKeldin, who was mayor of Baltimore and later governor of Maryland during the 1950's.
6 of us showed up for this hike: Mike C, John C, Charlie J, Suzie J, Chris I and Bill I. We waited until about 10:10 and then started the hike. We would be hiking the Switchback Trail for about 4.6 miles, then along the park road for about .5 miles to return to our cars. The weather was in the high 30's, low 40's and sunny. The hike was mostly small ups and downs along the Patapsco River. The river was very scenic and had bits of ice in it. We either passed or were passed by 6 day hikers and 2 trail runners. We saw 6 small very dark colored deer along the ridge above us while we were stream bed hiking.
We hiked along the river for about 4 miles, then turned left and did a 490 foot ascent. We stopped half way up to take a break. Then we continued to the top and a view of Liberty Dam off in the distance. We then hiked the remaining .5 miles along park roads back to our car. We finished around 12 noon.
This was a perfect length for a day hike. It was also very good to see Charlie, Susie, Bill and Chris again. Afterwards, we went to the Macaroni Grill In Frederick, MD for a great lunch. This was a fantastic way to spend a cool Saturday in January.
The Conestoga Trail Camp and Bike occurred the weekend of September 19-21, 2008. Participants included Charlie Johnson, Bill Isham, Doug Knowles, his nephew Mic and myself.
Friday, September 19th, 2008- We met at the Cozy Restaurant in Thurmont, MD around 4:00 PM and had a very nice meal. It was Charlie J, Bill I and myself. We decided to ride our motorcycles to this Camp and Bike. Our goal was the Pequea (pronounced peckway) Family Campground in Pequea, PA. This was to be a leisurely weekend with no planned activities. I knew that it was going to be tough getting to the campground by dark. So, as ride leader, I went as fast as I legally could. About two thirds of the way there, we noticed that Bill was not behind us. After pulling over and hearing from a motorist that there was a guy with a flat tire a ways back, we turned around and started looking for Bill. During this time Doug K called and said that he and Mic were going to show up. Good, we thought, Doug is Bill's angel tonight. To make a long story short, after two hours of stopping at various places and returning phone calls, we finally found Bill. His tire was flat. We were not sure what to do since it was a late Friday night. So Bill bought some TireAid and put the goo in his tire, filled the tire up with air, and then we took off. We rode very slow since it was dark and we did not know the roads. We finally made it to the campground. It was 12:30AM Saturday morning. Doug and Mic pulled in a short time later.
Saturday, September 20th, 2008- I forgot my sleeping bag so I had to sleep in a tin foil blanket. It got down to the high forties last night. I got cold but I also got some sleep. We woke up around 7:30AM, ate and took it easy for the first few hours. We paid for the camp site. Bill went into town to try and get his tire fixed or replaced. The rest of us just sat around and read, slept or talked. It was very relaxing.
Bill got back a few hours later. He got a new tube for his rear tire and all was well. So we all decided to hike a short distance south on the Conestoga Trail so we can say that we had 'been there, done that'. We hiked through the camp ground, along a dirt road with cottages dangling from the surrounding mountain, got to a road, went up a hill, started a steep up along a mountain side and then ate lunch at the top of this mountain. The views of the Susquehanna River were nice, we had cell phone coverage (which we did not have at the campground), and we ate lunch along the trail and just kibitzed for awhile. It was nice. This was the first time that 4 of the original Rag Tag Rangers had gotten together for a hike in awhile. It was also hard to believe that we all hiked together for the first time 13 years ago this month.
So we started back to the campground. The total distance hiked was about 4 miles. Perfect length. We then got back to our camp site, cooked dinner, had a fire, conversed some more, then went to bed.
Sunday, September 21st, 2008- Last night was slightly warmer than the night before. We ate, packed up, said our goodbyes and started home. Bill, Charlie and I took a different way home along US30 and US15 instead of back roads. It was longer distance wise but shorter time wise. We stopped at a great place to eat in Emmitsburg, MD called Smokey's Barbecue. Excellent! Then we hit the road a rode home.
It was fun riding the motorcycles to a camp out. The only drawback is that it does tire you out more than driving. So that's why we only hiked a short distance on the Conestoga Trail. We'll have to do this again next year. We passed Codorus State Park on the way here. This looks like a possible Camp and Hike for next year. All in all, a relaxing weekend was had by all.
I did a long distance bike and camp recently. You can read about it by
Clicking Here. This backpacking trip occurred during the weekend of July 12 and 13, 2008. Participants were Bill Isham, Chris Isham, Tom Stevenson, Jim Casserly and myself.
Saturday, July 12, 2008- Jim C, Bill I, Chris I and myself met at the Five Guys in Winchester, VA at 12 noon and had a good lunch. We then drove to the trailhead at Snickers Gap and started the hike at around 1:30PM. We made a quick stop at the Bears Den Hostel so I could show it to Bill, Chris and Jim. It was only 3.6 miles to the Sam Moore Shelter, our intended goal. This will be easy, I thought. I had forgotten that this stretch of the AT was along 'The Roller Coaster'. 13.5 miles that had 10 ascents and 10 descents. We would be going over 4 of them in the 3.6 miles that we had to get to the shelter. The trail was rocky and crappy. The weather was hot, high 80's-low 90's. All of these factors combined to make this the toughest 3.6 miles that I had ever hiked. Tom Stevenson arrived later in the afternoon and joined us at around the 2.5 mile mark.
We all arrived at the Sam Moore Shelter by 5:30PM. We were tired! There were 3 other section hikers at the shelter that were from MD. All very friendly. One of them had a dog named Ben. He was very friendly. So we ate dinner and swapped some talk. Jim C had been to Africa earlier in the year and showed us some pictures from the trip. We all retired early since we were bushed. I got a chance to try out my new tent. It is different but I think that it will work fine. The night was warm and somewhat breezy.
Sunday, July 13, 2008- We all got up at first light, ate and were on the trail by 7:30AM. I suggested bushwacking to one of the parallel roads to the trail and taking them back. But no one else wanted to. So we again endured the 3.6 miles and 4 big ascents and descents back to our vehicles and went home.
This was a tough hike. The trail conditions were some of the worst that I have seen along the AT. I think that the only way that I will be back to this area is to see the neat overlook near Bears Den Hostel. I also may backpack in about a mile or so to the first stream crossing to camp. But I don't think that I will be hiking 'The Roller Coaster' again. It was a tough hike. However, I feel that a tough hiking day is better than any day at work!
Tom Stevenson and I recently completed the missing 43 miles of the AT that we missed in September, 2007.
Click Here to see my trip log and pics.
Click here to see Tom's pics from this trip
The price of gas has definitely effected participation on hikes this year. I had 3 maybes tell me that they couldn't make this one. I'm sure that gas was a factor.
So I hopped on my motorcycle on Saturday morning, May 19th, 2008 and headed out to Wildcat Mountain Natural Area, VA. It is located just west of Marshall, VA off of US17 near I66. This is the 'snowbunny route'.
Retirees from western New York use this route to get to their Florida homes for the winter. I know a number of them that do this.
The first mile would have me ascending 400 feet to get to the top of England Mountain. That was rough. After that, you are basically walking along 2 different ridges that are separated by a gorge that has some streams in it. The area is very beautiful. Most of the trails are old roads. It looks like the area was logged over 100 years ago but then kept pristine. Once on top of the ridges, the elevation changes are no more than a few hundred feet.
There are 2 different loops that you can hike in this area. 2.9 and 5.2 miles. I sat at the intersection where I had to decide which loop to do for about 5 minutes trying to decide which one to do. Since I forgot my hat and my camera, I decided to do the short loop. So I'm game to come back here if someone else wants to do the longer loop.
Highlights of this trip included and old spring house which looks to be sporting a recently renovated roof, an old abandoned house called the Smith house and a small lake that forms the start of Black Cotton Branch. Another neat thing was that there were old (probably from the 60's) Nature Conservancy tins on the trees next to more tecently placed plastic trail markers. Some of these old shields were growing into the trees so I know that they had been there for awhile.
I passed a number of young couples hiking this trail as I was heading out. Nice way to spend a Saturday morning and afternoon. So I definitely enjoyed hiking this area and would welcome the opportunity to go back and hike the longer loop some day. I had been wanting to do this for almost 15 years. So, on Saturday, May 10th, 2008, I spent the night in the 400 acre Chopawamsic Backcountry, which is a wilderness area that lies between Prince William Forest and Quantico Marine Base in VA.
I went to Prince William Forest Park to get my free backcountry permit to camp in the backcountry. I was worried about the weather as we were in between rain storms. Also, the ranger informed me that the Marines had replaced the lock at the entrance to the backcountry. So I would have to park my car on Joplin RD across from the American Legion Hall and add an extra mile each way to my hike.
So I started in around 4PM. I made a few wrong turns but finally made it to the trail head. I then hiked about a mile further along the Bobcat Ridge Trail to site number 4. I wasn't sure where exactly that I was supposed to camp. So I dropped my pack by a small stream/brook that ran across my site and started exploring. I found where Chopawamsic Creek was. Then I followed a faint yellow blazed trail up over a small ridge and it led to a sign that said site 5 camp site. So I assumed that I had to camp back by the trail. It turns out that they renumbered the site posts on the trail but did not renumber the site markers themselves. Very confusing.
Anyway, I got the tent set up by this small stream/brook that I crossed first as it looked like it was going to rain again. I then ate a meal and, while doing so, the sun came out. So it ended up being a very nice afternoon and evening. I then discovered that the small stream/brook by my tent was really a spring that came right out of the ground about 30 feet from my tent. I lucked out this time! I relaxed, read, then entered my tent around 8PM. The night was a little cool but very quiet.
On Sunday morning, May 11th, 2008, I got up, ate, packed up, pumped some of that nice spring water for the trip home and walked out the loop along the Deer Ridge Trail to the road and then back to my car. So I ended up doing 2 miles yesterday and 3 miles today.
This was a nice trip. I was the only person in the backcountry this weekend. You are isolated but can hear I95 in the distance as well as hear occasional gun shots coming from Quantico Marine Base. Your cell phone also works. This is a nice way to spend a weekend. The only problems encountered on this trip were that I forgot my coffee cup, my candle lantern was stuck from a previous trip and my tent was pitched a little too steeply on the hill and I kept having to pull myself up to the top of the tent. Other than that, the Chopawamsic Backcountry is a great place to get away from it all.
Map of the Chopawamsic Backcountry
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