The First Hike
After the partial backpack trip on the Mid-State Trail I went for two successive day-hikes (after my recovery of course). The first was on the Pine Creek Rail trail between Slate Run and the town of Cammal.
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| Pine Creek Rail Trail at Slate Run |
Yes, the rail trail basically runs through the town of Slate Run. I started south and proceeded through town. After about five minutes the town got left behind and the trail followed, as it always seems to, the path of the Pine Creek. At one point I could see mamma duck and chicks floating along, see below.
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| The duck family |
Along the way there were some good views, captured here.
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| Pine Creek |
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| Yet another view of Pine Creek |
To the east of the trail there was a potential railroad artifact, seen below. I also passed a campground of sorts on the west side of the trail. It had tent sites and charcoal grill set-ups.
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| Railroad culvert? |
At the town of Cammal there was a kiosk and sign shown below.
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| Kiosk at Cammal |
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| Cammal |
I turned around here and headed back north. I had noticed on the walk south a small cemetery near the campground. I stopped to take a picture (below). It was not kept up, but someone had placed flags by the graves of the two Civil War veterans. The other occupants of the cemetery were small children, placed there by their families sometime in the 19th century. There were no other signs or indications of care. But it was right next to the rail trail so the people going by could surely see it and there was obviously signs of some foot traffic through it.
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| Some children's graves |
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| Civil War veteran grave |
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| More children's graves |
A last view along the trail before reaching Slate Run is shown below.
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| View along the trail |
After reaching Slate Run I walked a bit further north to reach the exact point I had turned around on during my previous rail trail hike. I then headed back to my vehicle to complete th
is hike.
The Second Hike
The following day I headed out for a day-hike at the head of the Susquehannock Trail system. The northernmost part of the STS loop is near Denton Hill ski area by the Forestry headquarters. This trail-head is only a 30 minute drive away so its a natural choice for an easy to reach hike. I had decided on the drive to the trail-head to just walk a couple of hours on the loop and then return. But, after arriving at the trail-head and walking to the traditional start of the hike I noticed a sign for a side trail that had not been there before. So, I walked on the duck pond loop trail (below) for a pleasant change of pace.
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| Duck Pond loop trail junction |
I ended up walking on both loops as they did not take long. But the duck pond itself made for a nice stop.This is a good short walk with a nice open view.
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| Duck Pond |
After the Duck Pond trail I started down the Billy Lewis trail which also started near the Duck Pond loop. I had never even heard of the trail before and was not sure of where it went though it became apparent that it generally followed a southerly direction. I kept thinking it would intersect the STS at some point but it didn't (at least on the part I walked on this hike).
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| View from Billy Lewis Trail |
I stopped for lunch not far from the view above. After lunch I turned around and headed back the way I came. I eventually reached the intersection with the Duck Pond Loop and from there I went back to the STS. Having a little more time I hiked down the east side of the loop for awhile to the intersection with the Elm Hollow trail. I walked down this trail (it doesn't appear to get a lot of foot traffic) but decided to turn around soon after. I hiked back to the start of the STS and then back to my vehicle. This made for a decent day-hike and I decided to return to the Billy Lewis Trail when I could.
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