Woolrich to Ramsey
For my third backpack trip of the season I picked the Mid-State Trail section between the towns of Woolrich and Ramsey. Ramsey was the start of my Mid-State Trail backpack last year and Woolrich is a convenient spot to start and stop a hike as the trail goes by the parking lot for the Woolrich Factory Outlet store (they were apparently having a big Labor Day sale when I parked there). The trail cuts through the Woolrich park (see photo below), crosses the road and goes across a short bridge. Still on pavement it goes to the left of what was once a school but is now a personal care center.
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| Sign in Woolrich Park celebrating the Mid-State Trail |
The trail passes, uphill, through a very short section of woods before reaching another road, The trail soon turns left going through private property and some tall grass. It was at this point I noticed a pair of backpackers about 300 yards ahead of me. I followed their path through the grass and up the hill. they crossed the field to an upper corner by some woods (I double checked my trail guide to verify that was the correct entry point to the woods, it was). So I followed them, reaching a trail sign and a view back across the town of Woolrich.
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| View of Woolrich |
It didn't take long for me to overtake the pair of backpackers ahead of me. What I initially thought were two guys (almost all other backpackers I meet are men) was two young women. We said hello to each other and I asked them if they were thru-hiking to which they replied they were not but going as far as Pine Creek (as the trail crosses or approaches Pine Creek a number of times I wasn't sure what that meant, I assumed it meant the town of Blackwell). They asked if I was thru-hiking which I said no, too and told them I was going to Ramsey. After this rather brief exchange I continued hiking. Maybe half an hour later the rain started, it was to rain off and on the entire hike after this (mostly on). I put on my rain poncho to both keep myself dry, the pack dry and to provide a bit of warmth as it was coolish. After about two hours of hiking I stopped for lunch at Gamble Run, having reached it after a moderate downhill section. After my repast of a peanut butter sandwich, chips and some chocolate chip cookies (lunch is my favorite trail meal) I started out again. The trail immediately went uphill, first gradually and then more steeply. Soon after reaching the summit I passed the spot I intended to camp. Because it wasn't raining at the moment I thought about gathering dry fire wood and stashing it, but decided against it as I wasn't 100% positive I would be stopping there to camp that night. From here the trail went downhill with increasing steepness. It was slow going and tricky in parts due to the narrowness of the trail.
It had let up raining and seemed to be stopped. But, getting close to the bottom it started up again. The trail made a few turns before coming out to a clearing where the rain started to really come down. I briefly stopped under a tree before going across the clearing to see if the rain would relent, it didn't. I kept thinking the trail would reach the rail-trail but it didn't do that either, instead it made some twists and turns of sorts before reaching the Bonnell Flats Campground (for kayakers and backpackers too, I guess) as it was basically right on Pine Creek. After walking past the campground, the trail merged with the Pine Creek Rail-Trail. Here I got passed by some bicyclers (also getting wet). Eventually I crossed the old railroad bridge, seen below.
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| Railroad bridge carrying Mid-State Trail and Pine Creek Rail Trail over Pine Creek |
It had let up raining for a bit by the time I took the photo. After crossing the bridge I was soon at the point the trail met the village of Ramsey, seen below.
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| Sign indicating Ramsey Village |
It was at this small parking area where I had been dropped off the year before for my Mid-State Trail backpack trip headed north. Reaching this point meant I had hiked the Mid-State Trail from Woolrich to Antrim (the extant shown in the Pine Creek Outfitters map).
After a short look around, I walked back the way I came. I did wonder about now when I would meet the two young women backpackers on their way north. I stuck to the rail trail on the way back rather than walk through the campground again as the rail trail was easier walking. I did notice on this part there was at least another relatively short trail that left the rail trail, it looked interesting. This was around the area designated Camp Kline. After not too much longer the trail went back into the woods and via the same twists and turns made its way uphill. At about one hour after leaving Ramsey on the steeper section of the trail I met the two young women again. We chatted for about two minutes, they were not happy about the difficulty of the trail, not complaining just commenting and deciding they would stop for the day at the Bonnell Flats campground. Their idea being fresh the next day to go up the steep Houselander mountain, I said that was a good idea. they commented upon my apparent speed (I did not say they were two hours behind me at that point). I also told them to be safe.
Eventually, after what seemed forever, I made it to the top. I was now looking for my intended campsite as I decided that although it wasn't as late as when I usually stopped for the day, this was a good spot to stop. Fortunately, the rain was spotty enough to allow me to set up camp without a lot of fuss. It is very hard to set up camp when it is pouring rain! I then had my dinner as it had been too early before that point. After that I tried to get a fire going, I tried for a while with very limited success. My best effort is shown below.
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| My very limited campfire |
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| Woolrich again |
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