So, the
weather is crap here on the great lakes. Everywhere you look you can see the
signs of our long-standing drought issues.
Here are
some examples and I will let the following graphics paint the picture.
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With the
lack of rain well its made leaf beds out of many of the rivers and creeks in
the great lake’s region.
So, with a
drought comes good camping weather! I decided to find a place to camp on the
map. I choose somewhere in the Allegheny
Mountains.
I also saw
at first a Mason Dixon line survey monument and wanted to see it to tell you
the truth even why I chose this area. Here are a few webpages explaining the line.
In this area it’s the state of Pennsylvania and West Virginia state line
boundary.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Mason-and-Dixon-Line
https://www.risingsunmd.org/department/division.php?structureid=51
https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/mason-dixon-line
Yes, I got
my nerd on over it and here are some photos of the stone set in the year 1885.
Then came
the search for a place to stay. I found the Tall Oaks Campground here is the link I camped in a tent for 16.00 dollars a night
and it was just what I needed. For 50 cents per 7 min, you can have a hot
shower. They have firewood you can purchase on site and a mini on-site general
store.
The camp is
managed by a gentleman well I will call him R. He is a great person and has
many jaw dropping stories of his life to tell. All in all, it’s a great place to
camp. As you can see from the photos.
Since I was
going to be in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, I wanted to see what off
grid hiking was to be had.
I found that
Devies Mountain was in the State Forest with no established trail network. This would be my goal to summit the mountain.
I laid out a
trail and using my Garmin 64sx I would go up one side of the mountain and down
the other side.
I do need to
admit I did not look at the local GIS to make sure I was always on State Land.
Coming down the north face, “it’s no excuse”, but I went onto private property.
If I had seen a private property sign, I would have turned around. It’s very
important to know if your route is all on public property.
I was lucky
or others saw me and just called me lost!
I was never approached when I got onto the windfarm roads.
Again, it
does not clear me of my error, but I want to make it clear that we all need to
do a better job of not willfully trespassing.
The yellow
path was my route.
The red area is the easterly inclusion zone of the Forbes State Forest. This information is from the County Assessors office.
The red area is the westerly inclusion zone of the Forbes State Forest This information is from the County Assessors office.I saw plenty
of dear and bear scat. After I came to the first valley I began my hike to the
summit. After making my own small switch backs, I made it to the summit.
A few deer
where not happy with me. I found the footing sketchy because the lack of dirt
under the rocks made them extremely prone to movement.
It was going
to be a slow go back down the mountain. I pulled out my trekking poles to give
me stability down the steep slope.
I worked my
way down the slope to a dry stream bed and found a nice resting spot next to a
huge boulder.
I sat down
and up to this point I had been very quiet. I sat down and a stick snapped
under my foot. Then my world temporarily spiraled out of control.
I bear
huffed at me when I snapped the stick. I have always thought this was a warning
sound to the being it was directed at. I said sh!t it’s a bear to myself and
pulled my bear spray out from its holster on my belt.
At the same
time, I reslung my pack. I then walked backwards facing where I thought the
sound came from. As soon as I broke the edge of the opposing side I saw a large
outline of its body and the bear huffed at me again. A light breeze was at my
back and would be into its face if I had to spray the bear.
Under the
mountain laurel it was resting, and I woke it up. The overnight low was 28
degrees and that was at 0700. It had only been maybe two hours since I started
this hike.
So, the bear
by my calculations was still drowsy from its nap. I walked backwards in the
direction of my azimuth to get me to my access point to get back to my car.
I walked
confidently as I could backwards keep my eye on the black pile of bear under
the mountain laurel. I was sweating, my
heart was racing, and I think every hair on my body was sticking straight TF up!
It felt like
an eternity but in reality, it was about 150 feet walking and stumbling
backwards. The boulder was out of my site. I walked briskly for about ½ of a
mile.
Then I saw
an old ATV trail and hopped on it for a bit. This time of year, it is also rut
for deer and then mother nature said watch this!
I still had
my sweaty hand around my bear spray and a huge deer stepped onto the trail.
Then I thought to myself son of a buck and there he was. He had a massive rack
of 12 points and as broad as a barn door. He actually squared off at me and I
thought I really don’t have time for you.
I gave him a
small toot of bear spray. He was 20 ish feet away from me at this point. He did
not like that bear spray and decided to take off.
I like ok
mother nature you made your point. Lol
I hiked down
the well-groomed gravel roads and the more I thought about the more I worried I
was trespassing. I picked up my pace to get back to the public road. I did pass
a gate that was open, but never saw any no trespassing signs.
I got back
to the road and continued to hike back to my car.
I passed
some puppies that must have been younger than 6 months old. They wanted to
follow me, but I yelled at them “but really wanted to pet them”. They were not
mine and the owner may have got upset so I kept rolling to my car.
Well, by
this time my heart rate had returned to normal. My hat was soaked from sweat
from the hike and from the wildlife encounters.
I rested and
had a few snacks and headed for basecamp.
