recent Caving

As caving ethics go, I will not say where, but I explored a Central PA cave on my day off for veteran's day. Rob, Chitlin, and I followed directions given by a grotto member- who supplied the cave map as well.

Spent 3+ hours underground without seeing all the rooms on the map, which is for the best- so we can get some pictures to document the cave's splendor. Our bodies were covered in too much mud to properly wipe off our hands to use a camera. Documented some translucent insects, salamanders, and bats (free of white nose syndrome).

Up on the hill

Spent another night on the hill known as Peter's Mountain last week. A cold, windy November night, I set up my tent inside the shelter by the parking lot. That parking lot is always busy, no matter the time of year. Although, I believe the car that was idling in the parking lot was of the feds who were supposedly investigating the case of the infamous tire dumper. It was the clearest night on Peters Mountain I have seen-no need to rush into the morning, but daylight savings has ended.

memories of when..........

3 days, or so, before reaching amicolola falls in 2008. In the town of Helen, GA, which happens to be a spectacle of sorts for attracting tourists to its immitation german style. Fun times at the bar for Karaoke night, and Creeture's uncle to celebrate with us.

Mt. Nittany: state college PA

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in State College for a conference. When speakers and receptions were all said and done, went up to check out Mt. Nittany on a gorgeous early evening. Just a few miles from S. Atherton, and from what I understand, a bus stops just down the hill from the trailhead. The trail system is interconnected loops (blue trail and white trail). I laced up my trail runners for a jog to cover the perimeter of the trails, switching between blue and white. Enjoyable overall, with a view down upon happy valley.

Vermont LT/AT section

A great section equipped with a guaranteed ride back to your car (unless its a sunday). "The Bus" runs M-Sat between these towns. Starting at Manchester Center VT, heading north on the LT/AT- met up with Chitlin and Dutch on their trip north (PA -> ME). The trip is 50 miles total, finishing at the Inn at the Long Trail, Rutland/Killington VT. Camping is available in the grass patch across from the Inn, which is a good chance to have a few beers and not have to hike out to camp. Reminiscent of first time through during my thru.

Day 1 up Bromley, and down quickly as a thunder/lightning storm passed through.
I may do this in a series of posts.. To end the beginning- a few pictures from Bromley.

1 46er down, 45 to go.

Traveled to the Adirondacks for a marathon a week ago, so naturally I had to summit one of the 46ers. Due to race recovery and weather conditions, Grandma and I chose Giant Mountain. Trailhead is 5.6 miles on 73 W from the Rt 9 intersection (near Chapel pond). 3.7 miles to the summit- 4625' ish. quite a hike in wet conditions. Reminiscent of SW Maine; rockslab trails to slide down most of the way. Unfortunately, no view from atop, but loaded up on red blood cells just the same - to feed the worms.

Boiling Springs(ish) to Caledonia. Or anywhere in between

Started at Lisburn Rd, 4 miles North of Boiling Springs. Chitlin and I camped two nights-hiked 3 days. Swimming occurred at Pine Grove Furnace State Park, not sure of the Pond name. Yogi'd along the way. Almost scored some brews from a cooler at a campsite after passing 2 guys early one morning, but upon opening their cooler, realized there were others still sleeping at their campsite... Walked away quietly when they started unzipping their tent to get out.

Below are the maps I created for the first 2 days of hiking. The second has an insert in the bottom corner of the 3rd day's hike. Shapefiles for shelters were helpful in creating these files with topo basemaps. Great section to hike, although no views-typical for PA.

Day 1

Days 2 and 3

Dolly Sods Wilderness

Red Creek headwaters and surrounding bog
atop the plateau, as seen from camp.

Machette in the distance. We took a break to
boulder a bit.




The Dolly Sods Wilderness in the Allegheny Plateau of West Virginia is said to be the highest of its type-on the east coast (Ave. 4000 ft). I visited the trail system atop the plateau in mid June. Almost nobody else to be seen or heard on top, although we did hear the sounds of a female at the height of climax in the near distance.

Great weekend destination, interesting ecology, stream channels, and bogs. The sods receive up to 100 inches of precip, mostly in the form of snowy winters.

The map, below, identifies the circumnavigation of the sods (provided by midatlantichikes.com). I would recommend the circumnavigation. The trail notes were incredibly detailed, allowing for a fairly easy navigation through interconnecting trails.

Aside from hiking, swimming and bouldering opportunities can be found along the trails. Plus blueberries are everywhere. Although a little early in the season, we found a few sweet berries.

I hear the government tested bombs on the plateau at one point, leaving future hikers in pieces... Stick to the trails.

Stony Mt. Fire tower

Stony valley has had much support through the years to preserve its natural state. As part of PA gamelands, there are a number of trails worth checking out. Web maps displaying these trails are found at the PA game commission website.

I took my hard-tailed mt. bike out to ride up rattling run rd (on the horseshoe trail) to the top. Reached the radio towers and unsure where to go from there, I beared right, through another gated access road. Along Stony ridge, several wildlife habitat fields were passed on the left of the trail/road before having to make another left/right decision. Left slighly ascended, ending up to be the right choice. The tower was in sight soon after.

A magnificent fire tower, gated to restrict access, the tower provides one of only a handful of 360 degree views in PA. From the valley, the tower can be reached within an hour by bike. 6pm was the perfect time to depart for the top on the last day of July. Just in time for the sunset on the tower. I do not recommend out-and-backs, but will have to explore other trails down the mt for another time, as daylight was fading. I have seen the distance to the tower listed as 4.2 mi, which seems fairly accurate.

Camping in the valley is readily available along the creek. A HQ-CWF, stony creek provides great water source, and swimming in various pools. FYI-water tank trail to the creek. There is a pool deeper than my height.

peters mountain white out

snomageddon was scheduled to arrive tuesday night, feb 9. Or was it snopocolalypse? I packed for work accordingly and planned to camp on peters mountain to lessen my morning commute. The snow started around 4 pm in Harrisburg. At 4:30 I took the mile drive up to the trailhead on the ridge of peters mountain, rt. 225. I was planning on staying in the shelter located behind the abandoned house next to the parking lot. There was a sleeping bag in the shelter the day before, and I was hoping to see if anyone else had the great idea of camping through the blizzard. I second guessed parking in the lot, for fear that it may not get plowed for days, or longer. Instead I regrouped in the parking lot at work and decided to walk up the road. In the meantime, I hiked around the Clark's Valley area, around the creek. At 9 pm, I started my walk up the then snow covered road. For the exercise, I didn't want a ride what-so-ever. Luckily, the road conditions meant I only saw about 10 trucks on my 40 minute walk.

Arriving at the shelter, which isn't an AT Companion recognized establishment, I often wonder if someone is ever going to burst out of the back door in the seemingly abandoned house to make me leave. Or perhaps, run into the strange man that I see a few times a week, either sitting in his truck or standing in various spots down the side of the mountain. There is also the possibility of a big foot appearance, as the local news reported a few months prior. The snow was heavy, probably dropping at least 6 inches over night, continuing through the next day. The winds started to pick up around 4 am, accumulating on my tent as it blew through the space between the log walls. Ski goggles helped during the morning descent.