A Backpack Trip in the Quehanna Wild Area
I worked in an overnight backpack trip in the Quehanna Wild Area using the many trails in the eastern part of the Wild area. Some of these were ones I had been on before (see previous posts) and the others were the remaining trails I had not hiked before. So, in a sense, this was an improvised trip. My main objective was to hike the Old Sinnehamoning Trail (OST) that, sort of, connects the Quehanna Trail with the Bucktail Path and the Donut Hole Trail. I say sort of because there is still about a mile or so of road walking between the OST and the Bucktail Path.
Anyway, the start of the OST does not have a well established trail-head so I parked by the xx River where people enjoying the river (fishing, swimming, kayaking) would also park. This left about a half mile of road walking to the start of the trail. The start of the trail is shared with the dirt road and is seen below.
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| OST Trail-head |
The trail started to climb at a moderately steep clip and not long there was a substantial blowdown that required a moderately difficult detour. The moderately steep climb continued for about a mile or so before leveling off. At this point there was Mountain Laurel by the trail in full bloom, seen below.
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| Mountain Laurel |
Soon after this there was a potential view, but it was overgrown. I pushed on from there with the trail angling slightly downhill. After what seemed like a long time I reached the junction with the Quehanna Trail (below).
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| Junction with the Quehanna Trail |
I had lunch at this junction as there was no better location to sit down. After a nice repast I continued down the OST until it reached the junction with Three Runs Road (a dirt road).
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| End of the OST at Three Runs Road |
This was the end of the first leg of my trip. At the road I turned right to walk down the road a short distance to the Big Spring Draft Trail.
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| Trail-head of Big Spring Draft Trail |
The trail starts wide but soon narrows and then turns right to go over, of all things, a big spring. This was a nice spring from which I drew water and drank my fill. I normally disinfect water in the wild, but from a spring with no obvious possibility of contamination I felt safe taking water directly from the source. The cold water was nice to drink and refreshed me. After this break the trail soon left the woods and went through an area with wild blueberry bushes with ripe blueberries. I grabbed a handful for a treat and then continued walking, but not for long as I saw the below.
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| Snake on the trail |
This was a black snake (no sign of diamond markings or a rattle) which kept watching me. Other than taking the photo above, I walked around to the right through the brush to get past the snake (I was taking no chances on any potential aggressive behavior). When making such detours I wonder if there are any unseen snakes in the brush I am walking through.
After walking a bit further, the trail went back into the woods. Eventually, the trail left the woods again to go back into a meadow. The trail eventually met the junction with the trail that goes to the Quehanna Highway parking lot (where I normally park while hiking the Wild area).
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| Trail junction |
On an earlier hike in the Wild I had come from the opposite direction so there is a picture of this same trail sign on an earlier post. This trail crosses a small stream, goes though the woods and approaches the highway (heard but not seen). The trail meets the highway right out of the woods and is difficult to see from the opposite direction. I crossed the road to the parking area (it was a little odd to be at the parking lot without my vehicle there). I did see one car from the Pittsburgh area parked there, but did not see anyone.
From here I turned to the right to find the Riddle Road trail (blazed in red). This trail-head is not marked, just blazes mark the start. I had been on the Riddle Road trail before and it is easy and wide. It was just grassy and after about 15 minutes I reached the paved Reactor Road (aka Lost Run Road). At this road there is a small trail-head parking lot as there are two trails on one side of the road and another on the opposite side. I crossed the road to get to the Red Run Trail. This trail starts out on gravel but quickly goes into the woods. After awhile it reaches a trail junction (seen below) which has obviously recently been renamed from the Penn State Out Club Trail.
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| Trail Junction |
I stayed on the Red Run Trail though and kept following it until it reached the Quehanna Highway where I crossed to pick up the connector trail.
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| Trail to Lincoln Road |
This is a relatively short trail that soon reaches the dirt Lincoln Road (and I had been on it before). At the road I turned right and did a few minutes of road walking to reach the next trail (marked by a kiosk, see earlier post which has a photo of this kiosk).
The Sanders Trail goes into the woods here and after about 10 minutes of walking I got surprised by another hiker coming from the opposite direction. It was a young woman and we both exchanged a couple of sentences of surprise at seeing the other and wishing each other a pleasant hike. Although the exchange was brief, I kept wondering where she was going as she appeared only to have a day pack. I guess she may have been the car in the parking lot I saw earlier. Of all the hikes in the Quehanna Wild I have been on, she was only the second person I have seen on the trails, so it was quite a surprise. Anyway, I was starting to think about where I would pick for a campsite. I wanted to at least get close to the junction with the Quehanna Trail near Arches Spring (the location of my first campsite on my first backpack of the Quehanna Trail years earlier). After awhile the Sanders Trail splits in two, one goes north to the Quehanna and the other heads generally east. I had taken the eastern portion on an earlier day-hike so the one linking to the Quehanna Trail was preferred.
This was the last bit of trail I would be doing that I had not before. As I walked, I kept an eye out for a likely camp site, preferably one with an existing fire ring, Plus, I wanted to stop while there was enough daylight to set up camp and get settled for the evening. Fortunately, at this time of year sunset was after 8pm so I was in no rush. After awhile such a spot appeared. I set up my backpacking hammock, tarp and sleeping bag in about 25 minutes. I then started on getting a fire going; a campfire is really psychologically comforting to have at the end of the day. I literally just got the fire going when a few pitter patters of rain drops started. Nothing major, just enough to let me know I would not escape the rain completely.
After a while, I called it a day and got into my hammock. It rained during the night but stopped before daybreak which was fortunate. The next day I started out again as soon as I could pack everything up. In just a few moments I reached the junction with the Quehanna Trail, below.
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| Junction with Quehanna Trail |
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| Junction with Quehanna Trail |
I turned right at the junction and proceeded on the Quehanna Trail. I had backpacked this section of the Quehanna Trail about 14 years earlier in the opposite direction. After a while I reached the vicinity of Arches Spring and the general location of my first nights campsite on my first backpack of the Quehanna Trail. Near here was the remains of an old building, a CCC camp perhaps?
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| Remains of Old Building |
Nearby was the spring from which I drew water. I pressed on, starting to think about where I might stop to have my breakfast. Soon after I came to this vista.
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| Little Fork Vista |
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| Trailside kiosk |
The trail started to descend, mildly at first but then increasing in steepness.Then near the bottom there was a few minutes of dense vegetation and some blowdowns to make the going a little tougher. Finally,I reached the junction with Wykoff Run Road (the winding paved road that joins PA route 120 with the Quehanna Highway). After crossing the road, the trail soon crosses a stream and then starts to climb, mildly at first and then more steeply. After about a mile I reached the plateau. This hiking was gentle and pleasant from here. From here it did not take long before reaching the junction the OST (see earlier photo). I turned left here and walked for about 20 minutes before stopping for lunch. The walking wasn't hard from here, but the steepness downhill started to get uncomfortable (it was unpleasant on the way up, but hard in its own way on the way down). My toes started hitting the front of my boots and causing some pain, but after what seemed forever I reached the end of the trail and the junction with the road. From here I turned left on the paved road and road walked through the small community of Wyside to my truck, A few minutes after reaching my truck it started to pour down rain. I had managed to escape hiking through the rain the second day too.
This was a decent cobbled together backpack trip. And I can say I have hiked just about every foot of blazed trail in the eastern Quehanna Wild area.
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