In this post I will briefly describe the few dayhikes I did this summer.
The first was a hike on a trail system I have been on a few times before, but come back to because it is close and yet woodsy enough to satisfy that need. I am referring to the trails system in Moreau Lake state park which is only about a 40 minute drive from my house. It is popular for mountain biking, but I did not see any this time. The day was warm, but with clear skies. I hiked around 10-12 miles (I really did not keep close tabs on the distance), but I managed to hike most of the trails in the system. I only saw two other hikers (and their dog) the entire time I was out.
The other dayhike was on a portion of the Elk Trail in PA. At the right time of year this trail is supposed to provide an opportunity to view the elk herd that has been transplanted from the west (the eastern elk native to the region were hunted to extinction). This hike was rainy most of the time (I could either hike in the rain or not hike at all), with limited hiking opportunities this year you can see why I chose to tolerate the rain (also since I sometimes backpack in rainy conditions it was good practice). I saw no elk, I only heard a deer snort some distance away and saw bear scat. As I plan to backpack the trail someday (maybe next year) this hike provided good information on trailhead location, trail conditions, etc. that are missing from guide materials, like the fact the trail is blazed with yellow and not orange.
There were no vistas on this hike, but I did take the pictures below because I found them interesting.
I do not know how old these signs were but it appeared to be from the 1950s or earlier, perhaps for a cross-country ski trail (this is state forest land). The two signs were actually on adjoining trees at right angles, obviously denoting an intersection of some sort. Anyway, it seemed strange to see this out in the middle of the woods, although decades ago there could have been a number of roads through the area based on the number of woods roads still there.
Let me mention here two changes in my backpacking/hiking gear this year. The first is new boots, I replaced the ones I had on the Donut Hole last year with new Merrells (I have had good luck with Merrells in the past) . These were reasonably light and fit well, I had no issues with them at all for the 2014 hikes. The other gear change, which was not one I was really wanting to make was for water purification. Before the backpacking trip I realized my Steripen seem to be not working (the UV light just would not shine). As I had no time to get a replacement I used my backup Aquamira drops. These worked reasonably well, I only did not like the waiting time. I may look into something similar for future backpacking trips.
My next posts discuss my backpacking trip on the Loyalsock Trail.
The first was a hike on a trail system I have been on a few times before, but come back to because it is close and yet woodsy enough to satisfy that need. I am referring to the trails system in Moreau Lake state park which is only about a 40 minute drive from my house. It is popular for mountain biking, but I did not see any this time. The day was warm, but with clear skies. I hiked around 10-12 miles (I really did not keep close tabs on the distance), but I managed to hike most of the trails in the system. I only saw two other hikers (and their dog) the entire time I was out.
The other dayhike was on a portion of the Elk Trail in PA. At the right time of year this trail is supposed to provide an opportunity to view the elk herd that has been transplanted from the west (the eastern elk native to the region were hunted to extinction). This hike was rainy most of the time (I could either hike in the rain or not hike at all), with limited hiking opportunities this year you can see why I chose to tolerate the rain (also since I sometimes backpack in rainy conditions it was good practice). I saw no elk, I only heard a deer snort some distance away and saw bear scat. As I plan to backpack the trail someday (maybe next year) this hike provided good information on trailhead location, trail conditions, etc. that are missing from guide materials, like the fact the trail is blazed with yellow and not orange.
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| Elk Trail (eastern trail-head) |
There were no vistas on this hike, but I did take the pictures below because I found them interesting.
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| Old sign on Elk trail |
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| Other old sign |
I do not know how old these signs were but it appeared to be from the 1950s or earlier, perhaps for a cross-country ski trail (this is state forest land). The two signs were actually on adjoining trees at right angles, obviously denoting an intersection of some sort. Anyway, it seemed strange to see this out in the middle of the woods, although decades ago there could have been a number of roads through the area based on the number of woods roads still there.
Let me mention here two changes in my backpacking/hiking gear this year. The first is new boots, I replaced the ones I had on the Donut Hole last year with new Merrells (I have had good luck with Merrells in the past) . These were reasonably light and fit well, I had no issues with them at all for the 2014 hikes. The other gear change, which was not one I was really wanting to make was for water purification. Before the backpacking trip I realized my Steripen seem to be not working (the UV light just would not shine). As I had no time to get a replacement I used my backup Aquamira drops. These worked reasonably well, I only did not like the waiting time. I may look into something similar for future backpacking trips.
My next posts discuss my backpacking trip on the Loyalsock Trail.