Mid State Trail (MST) Pennsylvania - 13 Mile Hike in and out Part 01

 

Bucktail Overlook (Top of the World) Dirfitwood, Pennsylvania

 

Short 12 mile in and out route on the Mid State Trail (MST) Pennsylvania

 

These two days

 Have been magical for me.  Beautiful scenery, new water, and a new trout species.  All on the swing and tomorrow I hike on the MST.  

Beautiful Potter County Pennsylvania

 

Headed to Pennsylvania on Sunday

Hello I will be headed to Potter County, Pennsylvania on Sunday. There I will be tent glamping for five nights.

The hope is that the creeks are fishable and hike a few small sections of the Mid State Trail (MST) there in Pennsylvania.

I have packed and repacked my gear because if you don’t have it, you can’t use it lol.

Plus, there is nothing worse than in IMHO than forgetting a piece of gear when you need it.

I will be back with all kinds of content on Friday.

Be well and get outside.

Potter County Pennsylvania 5-17 to 5-22

I plan on doing some hiking, sight seeing, and fly fishing while I am there.

Stay tuned it should be a good time filled with splendor!

Out for Trout well we will see!

Normally bye now my body is going through lake run smallmouth withdrawal.

The current and forecasted weather patterns as we all know have been cold and filled with rain.

Don’t get me wrong, we need the rain and a small window of opportunity to fish lol.

I find myself at a crossroads of sorts.

The upcoming weather forecasts look the same.

I have chosen to explore and camp in Potter County. After digging through this site, I have found some good data to help me with bodies of water to fish.

I will look like an odd ball “pretty normal for me” with my switch rod swinging flies in the waters I have chosen.

I have tied up some ugly streamers and soft hackles in size 10’s and 12’s.

It’s more about the adventure for me and not the catching. My GG Grandpa, who is a WW1 Marine, had always told me it’s not about the catching it’s about the adventure.

I will keep my eyes on the flows and even if they look marginal, I will be there!

Now it’s time to plan the food camping menu ..lol…

Swinging Flies for trout

 

Elk Creek Access, Pennsylvania

I found myself reluctantly going warm water fishing today.  The smallmouth bass should be in prespawn mode, but the lake is not 55 degrees in the central basin.

I went to Elk Creek and fished close to the mouth. The water was in the high 40’s to maybe 50 degrees maybe. 

Again, all we can do is try, but it stings a little more when fuel is 5.00 a gallon!

Weather is not going to stop me

 I will be up on Lake Erie shoreline somewhere on Sunday!

Looking for a hook-up @ Lake Milton!

 

On the Beach looking for B!tches

 I headed out to comb the beaches in search of pre-spawn smallmouth bass.

When I left the house the air temperature was 60 degrees and by the time I got to Presque Isle State Park it was 45 degrees.

Needless to say, this did not help my cause. Lol I knew fishing would be tough and it would be compounded by the NNE winds.

I did not get to the first bay on the Isle until 1030 on purpose. The one reason was the weather. I needed the rain to pass through because no one enjoys fishing in the rain when the temps are in the 40’s lol.

I would only use the eggbeater here and I had hopes to fish Elk Creek in the late afternoon, but those hopes were crushed by the storm.

They had some type of fishy tourney for Yakers this day and even knowing the weather was dismal they were out in good numbers.

I did see some guys doing well with a Carolina rig and 3” creek chubs.  They caught some nice walleyes and really decent smallmouth. Not my fave style of fishing, but they where putting on a clinic.

I did get a hit though on my soft paddle tail swim bait, but that would be all I would get all day.  I was satisfied with that, at least it was something.

I hiked about 4 miles of shoreline. I was nice to see the different waterfowl. This area is a huge migratory birding area.

It will be a fishy weekend next Saturday and Sunday

 I will be attempting to find fish in Pennsylvania on Saturday and on Sunday I will attempt to fish Ohio.

I am really wrestling not hiking but I need to feel the rushing waters on my skin.  

I know when I go fly fishing or use my eggbeater somewhere it is to relax. I may walk countless miles and lose countless flies or lures. I know that the reel reason I am even out there is to unwind from life.

Saturday I shall drive out to Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania. Smallmouth Bass should be starting to arrive in catchable numbers along her shores.

The wind will be out of NNE and only 12 knots. I will spend the better part of the day there before going to Elk Creek.

At Elk Creek in the lower mile of the creek, she should start to see smallies moving in to get into their prespawn feeding frenzy.

I have not targeted smallies in Elk in maybe 15 years and I am sure they are still in there. We will see how it all plays out.

I will also be paying a visit to the west break wall in Conneaut. 

The last time I was up there on the inside of the west wall I saw a huge sand bar that nearly reached the break wall and it has always been shallow there. 

Now access to the break wall may even be easier, but we will see on Saturday.

 

Airplane Light Trails with GoPro13

 

Upcoming Monongahela National Forest trip this fall

 Here are a few of the hikes I will be going on

14 miler in and out behind Seneca Rocks and on part of the North Fork Mountain Ridge.

16 miler using parts of the Lumberjack Trail to get up to Spruce Knob

5 miler up to Chimney Rock

6 Miler to Petes Cave

18.1 Mile Hike @ Zaleski State Forest Part 02

 

18.1 Mile Hike @ Zaleski State Forest Part 01

I need to fish soon!

 ...I am afraid the rivers are still too high and looks likew more rain on friday!!!!

16 Mile Hike in the CVNP

 

Lake Erie, Conneaut, Ohio Time-Lapse

Lake Arthur, Moraine State Park, Pennsylvania - 15.2 Mile Hike

 

I'm headed out into the wild for the day

 

Stay tuned folks for another hike.   

Stormy weather time lapse video

 

The Cuyahoga River

She was in decent shape but no fish were brought to hand and thats ok.

13.7 Mile Hike in McConnells Mill State Park in Pennsylvania

The route was 13.7 miles and with a lot of ups and downs like 5000' of them! 

14.5 mile loop in the CVNP

 Spring has slowly sprung the wetlands are wet and the frogs have begun thier song in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park!

Going to Presque Isle

 I will be taking a few time lapse videos and others. I will hopefully be able to see some interesting birds.

 

I did see a huge fisher cat today, but of course my GoPro got disconnected. Grrr

This video was taken my my point and shoot Olympus TG6

This video was shot with my cell phone a Motorola Edge 2024

14 Mile Hike in Beaver State Park in Columbiana County, Ohio

 

I am headed out to hike after breakfast.

Stay tuned folks.

Cook Forest Hike Part 2

 

I decided today to head over to Cook Forest in the great state of Pennsylvania.

My first stop was Fire tower Number 9 to catch the sunrise. This did not disappoint and I will post the video below. The road to the tower was closed and I believe it was a seasonal closure.

To the fire tower and back was 3.3 miles and extremely doable in the dark and of course I had my headlamp on.

The wind was howling and I needed to make my set up as low as possible. The fire tower is shaking a bit, but it was totally safe. The fire tower would not be safe, I don’t think for small children because of safety concerns.

After I was done, I drove to the trail head where I had planned my route to start.  After getting all my gear out and ready I realized I forgot to bring my micro spikes.

There was ice everywhere and you could tell the melting ice had just refrozen overnight!

I was long overdue and learned another life lesson!

For this route I combined a few different hiking trails from the Cook Forest area. I initially got the data from Alltrails and import it into Garmin Basecamp for editing.

I combined parts of Seneca Trail, Forest Cathedral Trail, Mohawk Trail, River Run Trail, and The North Country Trail. This initially was to be a 15.5-mile hike with an elevation deviation of about 7000 feet. I fell way short of that as I will explain later.

The trails are very well marked throughout the hike for the most part. The only true navigating issue I had is the amount of wildlife trails that in some areas can be very confusing. So, just remember to look at the painting markings ahead of where you are going so you can identify more quickly where you need to be going to stay on the trail.

The Cathedral Area was amazing and will make you feel humbled by the shear size of the trees. There was a storm that wiped out many of these magnificent trees in 1956. Here are some links to share more information about the area.

Cook Forest History Link 1

Cook Forest History Link 2

The reason I came here was to experience a lot of ascent and descent in a hike. In the first nearly three miles I experienced just that.

As an example at mile 0.37 my ascent was 211 feet, mile 0.29 ascended 157 feet, mile 1.85 ascended 423 feet, and the last large ascent was 479 feet at mile 6.82.

Because of the time I got to the trailhead and due to weather conditions I chose not to do the entire loop that I had laid out.  I will be back later this spring or early summer to hike in this area again.

The descent into the river valley would be 704 feet in 0.68 miles according to my Garmin 64sx. The descent into the river valley is nearly a straight shot down so be ready for that.

While in the Clarion River valley I noticed a few things about the river. This time of year, the river was low. I don’t know if it’s normally a shallow running river in this section, but I could see rocks almost out to the middle of the river. The river was at least in this section an easy and slow flowing section.

I turned northeasterly to begin my trek out of the river valley. The ascent would be 487 feet in 1.04 miles again according to my Garming 64sx. The ascent thanks goodness had some switch backs on it to break up the monotony.

I saw a few people working their way down into the river valley. I was still really surprised at the lack of people overall throughout the hike.

There are plenty of places to rest along the trail if a person needs to take a break.

There are lots of mossy rocks and wood throughout the duration of the hike.  In the spring the flowering would most likely be nice.

I like early spring the leaves have not begun to pop and you do get better views in my humble opinion.

The places where you could get water from were far and few between on the southwesterly side of the Fire Tower Road.

I still have some more content to edit, but I hope you have enjoyed the read.

Be well,

Sonder

Cook Forest Hike Part 1

 

Todays 15.4 Miler

Well, it has been a cold snowy winter. I have decided to hike up Mount Washington in 2027-2028. Before that even gets here, I need to prepare. I know you are most likely saying buddy you got time lol.

While you right I have time, but also life gets in the way and things come up that can prevent a person from reaching their goal.  I want to give myself a generous window of time to prepare.

This route has an estimated elevation deviation of 7000 feet.  While I have already done a 17 miler with a deviation of 6300 feet that was almost at the end of summer last after hiking for months.

Today I will be testing myself to see how my stamina and endurance have waned over winter.

I will pay close attention to my pace and see how it goes mile by mile today.

Todays hike profile!!

Todays time-lapse sunset

 

1930s Drafting Table Top Refurbished

I have stripped and sanded this beautiful piece.   I have opted to not finish the top.  I instead I am using a clear  table topper mat.  This mat is made by exatamat.   

The thickness is 80 mil and clear they call it crystal.  The table I am using it on is 6'x3'.

It allows the table natural maple grain to truly shine.  

Making fresh pressed coffee on a hike.

 

Hocking Hills State Park Ohio Outing

 

We love doing what we love doing. It’s a passion that many don’t understand. Like going to bed at 2000 to wake up at midnight and after making breakfast to watch a sunrise on a fire tower that’s 3.5 hours away.

Those experiences for the people who know it is amazing and for others they say I would never.

After making a pot of fresh ground bean coffee and having breakfast I headed out to the Hocking Hills State Park area.

I had read other reviews about the fire tower and how unsuitable it is for some people. Yes, the stairs have no risers. The small platforms at each landing do have some chain link fences on them. You cannot enter the structure, but you still can see an amazing view. I will attach the timelapse below of the sunrise.

I would also be chasing a few waterfalls today. I would be staring at the hike a little earlier than normal for myself and that’s only because I was trying to stay ahead of the number of potential hikers today.

As I hiked up into the gorge of the Twin Sisters Falls you could see the erosion damage from the storms from last year. A good amount of soil erosion had taken place, and it exposed new rock formations. This also has exposed quite a bit of tree roots and they have also fallen.

Some of the newer smaller waterfalls you could see them because of the ice dams that they left behind.

I was only going to do a short hike because of the amount of time I was going to spend driving there and back. I would still get in a miler with an elevation deviation of over 3000 feet throughout the hike.

I changed my GoPro settings to shoot in 9x16 format because it was more important to see the high walls of the gorges.

I hope you enjoy the artwork.

Hoofing in Hocking on Saturday!!!

The passion we have for what brings us joy is strong. Hmm I might have gone to bed a 2000 and got up at 0000. I am going to drive down to the Hocking Hills area to capture a time lapse of the sunrise and then go on a hike.

I will also be chasing a few waterfalls while I am down there!

10.2 Miles out in back in the CVNP

Here southerly from the shore of Lake Erie we are not blessed with mountains. Here there are glaciated valleys and hills.

They have their own beauty, and they are what has made northeast Ohio. A hiker who is looking for a lot of elevation deviation in their hike will need to learn through trail and error what trails or trails offer them the challenge they are looking for.

On Sunday I had chosen a trail that was 11.2 miles out and back, but the elevation deviation was roughly 1700 feet ascending and descending.

Today’s trail started out in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Headquarters parking lot.

I brought along my normal gear, but also packed my micro spikes by Kahtoola Web Link

After the first flight of sandstone stairs and feeling the ice under my boots I knew I needed to strap those MICRO spikes on.

One still needs to use caution while wearing them. You need to lift your feet higher and look where you step. I did not have my GoPro at a great angle for this and ended up with more of the trail in the videos and not the landscape.

The great thaw was not an issue this morning when I started, but buddy did that change on my return leg of the hike. Everything was getting sloppy and water was starting to run in the ditches and creeks.

What water did see going into the woods was clear, but coming out it was turning into chocolate milk.

I also noticed in this area particularly that they coyote like using the trail as a bathroom and It’s better than dog crap!!

I also saw a very interesting piece of 1800’s history out in front of the Summit County Engineers office out post (see photos below).

I also saw a huge wolf dog and I did not try and pet him, but he nosed my hand.

It was not because I was afraid of him, it was just out of respect for him and his owners.

Going to the CVNP this Sunday to hike 14 miles

The parking lot was to full to do the 14 mile route!!

2026 Goal to complete a 20 Miler in the CVNP this summer

 

New Backpack Osprey Aether 65L

 

Future Hiking Plans - The White Mountains - Presidental Range

 

Sunset Time Lapse

 

Brandywine Creek Gorge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Video Entry

 

Headed out to the CVNP later!

 Stay tuned folks!

Stay warm out there friends

Allegheny National Forest

 

Video Entry of Waterfalls Today on Paine Creek

 

This just means I need to return and make some ladders!!!!

Here is the climbing profile up the gorge wall.

Triple Falls Hike

 

Paine Creek is a tributary of the Grand River in Northeast Ohio. I have been hiking Paine creek a lot over the last few years.

The shale gorge of Paine Creek is in some locations have shale walls that are over 100 feet high.

The other thing about Paine Creek is it has a lot of tertiary streams flowing into it. Now, some of them are so small you can kick a rock across them.

Several sections of Paine Creek are accessible via the Lake County Park system.

Today’s hike will be a shorter hike than I normally do, but all the vertical deviation I will be doing will make up for it.

Today’s temperatures are going to be below freezing. The first part of this hike I have done dozens of times, but when it comes to hiking around ice and water, I always approach it like I have never been there.

I will be wearing my waders and changing into my regular hiking clothes for the overland part of the hike.

One of Paine Creeks features is that it has mostly a shall bottom. While this is generally very slick thew majority of it is shallow. The average depth is 18” and yes it has some deep holes that you can swim in. I will be steering clear of those today.

My main priority is doing some hike recon for what I am going to call Triple Falls Creek.  This little ditch has high gorge walls that are over 100 feet high.  I will attach a video that illustrates what I am trying to convey.

I don’t know if I can actually climb the two other falls and to be honest just getting past the first falls might be a challenge also.

I might have to return several times throughout this year and build some ladders to get up the falls. This trip is more about intel gathering than anything else really.

Have a great Sunday folks,

Sonder

The New PC Finally!

 

I selected the MSI Aegis RS2 AI C2NVR9-1294US Gaming PCIntel Core Ultra 9 285K 3.2GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7; 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM gaming computer to edit the content I create.

I also slapped 64 GB Ram into the PC. Right now it runs smoothly and I hope it continues to do so. I also added another 27” monitor.

I also needed to send my GOPro13 back for a warranty exchange. I will be back at it in two weeks.

Stay safe folks and be well.

Sonder

Video Journal Entry For Raccoon Creek State Park Pennsylvania

I hope you enjoyed the artwork. I will be getting a new PC and for the next few days I will be sorting that out. I also needed to return my GoPro13 back for a replacement. The content will be limited for a few weeks. Hang in there folks and stay safe.