October Runoff

It’d had been a while since I’d been on a challenging hike beyond a leisurely day hike or an evening camp-out in the woods. I’d been craving a weekend trip with a loaded backpack and the burdens that come with hiking a long distance since September. A month ago, I spotted a clear weekend on my calendar, and plans were as good as made.

My pal Steve and I hiked a portion of the Loyalsock Trail this past weekend, commonly known as the Loyalsock-Link Loop. The Loyalsock Trail (the “LT”, for short – as designated by tree-markers) is a 59.3 mile trail in Pennsylvania’s Lycoming County, that runs east and west, from route 220 on its east side to route 87 at its western terminus.

We decided on the loop after some debate as to whether we’d would tackle 15 mile hike or one closer to 20 miles. Given our two day time frame, twenty miles seemed best, so the Loyalsock-Link Loop fit the bill. After obtaining maps we learned that the loop itself is 22 miles, and is formed by the Link Trail (designated by a red “X” on a circular yellow tree-marker) which connects to the LT at two junctures. The Loyalsock-Link Loop is evenly bisected by the Loyalsock Creek, which by my definition (at least during this soggy October) was a formidable raging river. The river runs east to west, and is sandwiched between two parallel ridges. Along the north ridge is the Loyalsock Trail, and along the south ridge is the Link Trail.

Our National Geographic topo maps and some hiker reviews indicated that most folks start at the west end of the loop in World’s End park (along the river), and hike clockwise, with the first half of their hike heading eastward along the northern ridge. We took an alternative route, and started at the parking lot marking the eastern terminus of the LT along route 220. This extra 1.5 mile loop access trail resulted in a 25 mile hike, which, while it was satisfying to complete, was probably biting off more than we were ready to chew in two days.

Our Hike

We hit the trail on Saturday at around 9:30am, and there was no doubt that it would be a cool weekend. Stepping out of my buddy’s truck made me laugh that I even considered my hammock over my tent, but as soon as we hit the trail, we warmed up.

There are two trails that leave the parking lot at 220, both of which provide quick access to the RX-7 connector trail which is the path we took to the loop. These are the LT and another trail called the Haystack trail. Leaving the lot, both trails head down the ridge and cross the RX-7 trail (marked like the Link Trail, with a red “X” on a yellow circular yellow tree marker). The RX-7 trail follows a railroad grade westward and is certainly the most level and direct way to access the loop. Optionally, from the grade, you could continue down the LT or the Haystacks Trail to an area called the Haystacks, where the trails run together along the river, and eventually climb back up the ridge and meet again with the railroad grade. Our hope was to complete more than half of the hike our first day, so we avoided the hike near the Haystacks and took the (very wet, but waterfall ridden) railroad grade until the LT returned from the Haystacks to join with it. At this point, we followed the two trails (now joined) down the valley which connected us to the Eastern-most point of the loop.

Bridge Closed

As the LT meets the river, there is a large bridge, which was closed to motorized traffic – likely due to the recent hurricane flooding. You can continue along the south shore of the Loyalsock Creek, along the Link Trail (“X”), or follow the LT across the bridge, and along the northern ridge. While our map and hiker reviews showed most hikers tackling the loop in a clockwise fashion, it seemed most logical for us to cross the river and follow the LT, taking us around the loop counter-clockwise. This proved to be the absolute best decision we could have made, as the entire northern ridge was soggy and littered with rocks that prevented tent camping in most areas (with the most notable exception being in the area of Soans Pond near the east of end of the ridge, which had a gorgeous forest, with a soft bed of pine needles and plenty of room for camping).

With our goal of completing more than half of the trail the first day, we knew early on we had to hike to the second river crossing (near World’s End’s park office), and up the southern ridge before we could setup camp. Fallen leaves forced us to poke at the trail with trek poles, which became necessity to negotiate any hidden puddles of water and mud. Knowing the distance we had left to hike kept our pace in check. By around 5pm, we made it to the west side of the ridge. By this point we had crossed about five streams, a few of which made slipping very probable. We were fortunate to not have any injuries or falls at the stream crossings, though after a careless step on a wet log early in the day, I had a good tumble down a hill, and am thankful to have landed on my pack without getting a scratch.

Hiking down the northern ridge to the river was treacherous. The trail was steep with many wet boulders and one challenging stream crossing. We descended the ridge with about 12 miles under our belts, so rubbery legs undoubtedly contributed to the complexity of the task at hand. We were thankful to reach the river, where there was significant flood damage (again from the hurricane floods), but we knew nightfall was approaching and it that would be four miles until we reached our destination. We hiked onward, with one more stream crossing (a bridge was washed out), and shortly later junctioned with the Link Trail, which would take us back east along the southern ridge. The cloud cover over the forest cover made darkness settle in quickly, and seeing trail markings on the trees became more difficult with every step. The Link Trail led us up along a slick narrow ledge just along the edge of another raging stream, the first we hiked along all day. Some of the falls would have been a beautiful sight during the day, but we were running low on steam, and needed to get up the ridge and call it a day. The trail climbed up and away from the stream, and after a bit of hiking with our headlamps, we found a good place to tent and call it a night. We were about 16 miles into the hike.

Our hike Eastward along the rest of the ridge on Sunday was no competition with the previous day on the soggy northern ridge: The trail was dry, with fewer rocks, and the weather was also teasing us with some sunlight.

Soans Pond

Final Words

Given the week of rain prior to our hike, we were in disbelief that the Link Trail along the southern ridge was as dry as we encountered it. I would encourage any backpacker tackling the Loyalsock Loop to camp on the southern ridge and avoid staying the night on the north side of the river, with the exception of the area around Soans Pond.

Wildlife during our hike was limited, except for a doe we spooked and an orange salamander we found during a stop for a slug of water. However, there were many different landscapes which include waterfalls, streams, Hemlock forests, Soans Pond, numerous vistas, caves and rock overhangs, and unforgettably, the Loyalsock Creek (river!).

All in all, I would recommend this hike to any hiker with some experience under their belt. I recommend taking a pair of hiking sticks or trek poles to help negotiate wet sections of the trail and use them to keep balance while crossing streams.

Flooding at John Wert Path

I waited for the rain to quit on Saturday then made my way toward the parking area at Bear Meadows. On the way were clear signs that the woods weren’t done draining from the storm. I parked, and wandered down John Wert Path. A few hundred feet down the trail, a flooded valley formed a temporary pond, and the trail lead into the middle of it. It was towards 4:00pm, so I looked at my map for an alternate route.

Flooded Campsite on Detweiler Run

I reached the MST’s intersection at Greenwood Spur, and saw quite a bit of water running down the MST. Just two hundred feet up the MST and I saw the primitive campsite completely flooded by running water. The swift water rushing through the mountain laurel was gorgeous indeed! I made my way another few hundred yards up the MST, and found the trail submersed in swift water. I worked my away around through some thick mountain laurel and found more of the trail submersed. After reconsidering the time, my safety, and the goal of reaching Penn Roosevelt by nightfall, I made my way back up the hillside, and followed Detweiler Run Road up the valley. I changed my course at Shingle Path, and paused where it intersected the MST and crossed Detweiler Run. An unusual amount of water this far upstream made for an entertaining crossing, and I crested over the ridge, making my way down into Penn Roosevelt for the night.

Retreated Waters

Hiking along Detweiler Run after the rainstorm proved to be an exhilarating experience. I highly recommend taking a look at the area after a large rainstorm to see some local geography in action. Though take caution to dangerous situations. If you are interested in other pictures from my hike, you can find them in my Picasa photo album.

Detweiler Run

Seven Mountains on the left,
Nittany Mountain on the right

I hung a bulletin board and posted some of the sections of map I printed. It seems like a great way to ponder over hikes, and will be good for showing my friends where I’ve been.

The new fuel bottle (in green) is about as tall as a beer can and holds 8.5 fluid oz.

Since getting my new pack and building a soda can stove, I’ve wanted a smaller fuel bottle to go along with the light-weight theme. The new fuel bottle holds 8.5 fluid oz and is more economical for 3-4 day hikes when compared to my MSR bottle which holds 20 fluid oz. This is especially true considering most of my hikes are less than four days and I generally cook only once a day.

A spork was another way to shave away at my pack’s weight. Until now I’ve been using a fork/knife/spoon set (the kind where the knife and fork piggy-back using two hooks on the spoon). I always have a pocket knife on me, so replacing the 3-piece set with a spork lets me ditch the weight of two utensils. The spork will also keep me from having to dig for multiple utensils in my pack (a common headache when the fork and knife dettach from the spoon).

The second stove is taller than the first

About three weeks ago I made my first soda can stove using the instructions at YGringas.net. His instructions are thorough, so there’s no reason to rewrite them here.

I first heard of the concept while doing a section hike on the AT (I believe just south of The Pinnacle). A thruhiker I ran into named Badger had just picked one up and explained to me that it could boil water. With my new pack on the way (I had just ordered it), I saw this as an opportunity to whittle away at the ounces I carry on overnight trips.

The taller stove, just after the jets kicked in

I found that the first model I made did not quite boil water. The stove was filled with denatured alcohol and my cooking pot had about 1.5 cups of water and no lid. The jets seemed to be working ok, so the only adjustment made on the second stove was height – I made it about a quarter inch taller to hold more fuel. Filling the second stove to the top (up to the fill-hole) did the trick. After 1.5 – 2 minutes, the jets were going, by 7 minutes water was boiling, and the jets continued burning until about 9 minutes.

This should take care of any oatmeal, tea, or ramen noodles I’ll be cooking in the woods. At some point I want to measure how many ounces of fuel it takes for a single run. With that I can get a good estimate on how much fuel I need per hike.

My new Deuter ACT Trail 32

A week or two ago I picked up Deuter’s ACT Trail 32. It’s an internal frame backpack that’s a little larger than your typical day hiking pack, yet big enough to carry enough gear to go on an overnighter or possibly a two day hike.

If you want to take a tent and sleeping pad with you this backpack is probably not for you. In my eyes, this pack is ideal for warm weather trips where you’d need no more than a lightweight fleece bag or blanket and a hammock. But to my surprise, I was able to fit my 3 season sleeping bag in the bottom of the pack.

The main compartment of the bag is accessable from both the top and the backside. The top has a draw string with a typical flap that buckles down after you draw it shut. The backside of the pack has a netted pocket (which I’ve been using for quick assess to trail maps) and a bungee mechanism for stashing a sweatshirt or fleece when you need to remove layers as you hike.

The backpack fits firmly against your back and allows you to move without any jiggling whatsoever. It has a belt strap and a second strap across the chest to pull the arm straps closer together. On the inside is a pocket to hold a water pouch, with a hole in the front to route the drinking tube. On the outside at the bottom is a zippered compartment containing a backpack hairnet built to fit the pack. There are also numerous loops for tying down gear or clipping doodads with carabiners.

I’ve taken the pack on two evening hikes so far (both behind Tussey Mountain) but have not yet camped overnight with it. One was two weeks ago around Bear Meadows, and the other was on a smaller loop off Kettle Trail and Shingle Path. I’ll probably do several more night hikes in the upcoming weeks until I can find a full weekend to backpack. And even then, I don’t foresee myself using this pack until June or July for weekend hikes, as I generally like to take my tent when I’m backpacking in colder weather.