First Day-hike of 2016 - Mt Tom and Pine Creek Rail Trail

March 2016 Day-hike

I took advantage of a trip to Pa to get in a day-hike for 2016. This was only the second time I have done a day-hike in March (the last time was about 14 years ago on the Ozark Trail in Missouri). This time I returned to the Pine Creek Rail Trail, the same as last November. I also did a side trip up Mt. Tom (just a coincidence on the name). The trail for Mt Tom is close to the Darling Run parking area on the rail trail. However, the rail trail is closed until the end of May from Darling Run south to Tiadaghton (the portion I hiked in November) for tree cutting. So, I parked up the road in a pullout and walked back to the yellow blazed trail up Mt Tom. The trail to Mt Tom is pleasant for a while, but then it asks for a decision, go up the shorter steep trail or the longer more gradual climbing trail (see photo below).

To the right, the gradual trail, to the left the steep trail. Sign above indicates the different distances.

Now, guess which I took up and which I took down. If you are a hiker you might guess correctly, I took the steep way up (and it was quite steep toward the end) and the gradual path down. Why, you might ask? My knees bother me more going down a steep trail and going up. Anyway, the summit view made the extra effort up worthwhile, as seen below.

View from Mt Tom

After a short break (it was a bit chilly here as temps were in the low 30's) I headed back down and eventually to the road and back to my vehicle, probably about 3 miles or so total distance.

From there I drove to the small town of Blackwell where the rail trail meets its first real town on the way south. This location is significant because many people go on the water in their kayaks or canoes there and it is also a junction with the Mid-State trail and is near the southern end of the West Rim trail (I did that trail about 11 years ago).

From Blackwell I walked north, with the Pine Creek on my left. Until afternoon, I saw no other people on the trail, I guess it was too cold until then for them. Even though work is being done on the trail north of Tiadaghton, I saw two locations on the trail that could use some attention. One was a rock slide that had sent at least a half-dozen rocks onto the trail and more piled up along it. I removed all but the heaviest one from the trail. And the other was a large blow-down across the trail a few miles from Tiadaghton. I removed the smaller limbs that were on the trail, but the main tree was too heavy for me to move. Because the trail is a popular biking destination any bikers will have to carry their bikes over it until it gets removed.

There were many waterfalls to be seen where water was coming down the cliffs on the east side of the gorge (the side where the trail is) down to the creek. Due to the time of year they were very scenic and I took a few pictures of them (shown below). I ended up having a late lunch at the same spot I lunch at last November so I could say I have hiked the whole trail from Darling Run to Blackwell. This was a nice hike despite the chilly conditions, I hope to hike other parts of the rail trail in the future.

Some photos from the hike are here for your entertainment.