Headed to the Wayne National Forest on Saturday

 Stay tuned folks

be well,

Sonder

Minister Creek Trail & Part of North Country Trail in Pennsylvania

 

A Person can find peace and quiet in our national forests and that’s why I chose the Allegheny National Forest on Saturday.

I knew though when it came to the Minister Creek loop area I would run into people, but for 8 miles of the 16 I would hike it would be void of people most likely.

In this section of the trail system of the Allegheny National Forest, I saw so much greenery and very little was made up of stinging nettles. I saw so many fungi and ferns it was incredible.

The rock formations that are on the Minister Creek Loop are something to see also. I think some of them were 60 feet tall in places.

There are a lot of free primitive camping spots on this section of trail system also. I started at 0600 at the trail head. The dark inky trees was a welcome feeling of immersion in nature. Even the squirrels were still asleep. I was shocked to see all the random rock formations.

So many signs of glacial erosion through all the scars on these massive rocks! This area of the High Plateau of the Physio Province of the state of Pennsylvania is something to be seen (reference link)

I hope you enjoy the videos

The North Country Trail (NCT)

I am headed out to the North Country Trail in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) on saturday. 

These hikes in the ANF are demanding and these will help me prepare for my Monongahela National Forest trip in October of this year.

17 Mile loop in the Pennsylvania Wilds part 2

 

17 Mile loop in the Pennsylvania Wilds part 1

 Here are some sections of the hike from sunday! 

Headed out to Pennsylvania for the day

 I'm going to attempt a 16 mile in the Cook Forest. I am working on the content and I also have alot going on sorry for the delay.

Hang in there friends

Public land a float tube and panfish that sipped flys like they are trout

 

92 Days until my return to the Monongahela National Forest

 

I took this week and weekend as a zero!

 I will be back at it next week and weekend folks.

I hiked 17.7 miles in Pennsylvania in Raccoon State Park

This park is in a part of the southwestern corner of the state of Pennsylvania. I also feel by the lack of evidence that these trails overall do not see a lot of foot traffic. I did a similar loop last winter and even then, I did not see a lot of foot traffic.

Now take a certain thing I am doing longer hikes than most, but still I am still surprised by this.

With the heat index being above 100 degrees Fahrenheit was about being hydrated and paying attention to oneself looking for signs of a heat type of injury.

Last time I was in Pennsylvania it nearly ended up with me being in a box.  I brought with me 5 liters of electrolyte filled water.  I brought a rag to drape over the back of my neck to soak up water from any body of water to help keep my core temp down as much as I could.

I started at 0500 on the trail to beat the sun and I utilized the canopy of trees to give me the advantage of being potentially cooler.

As luck would have it, there was a slight breeze all day that allowed me to stay cooler longer.

I saw a few people hiking but that was not until about 10 am. They were hiking into the hiking shelters to camp overnight.

This loop I put together using the Garmin Basecamp program. I combined part of the Raccoon Creek Extended loop and part of the Forest, Appaloosa, and Heritage Trail loop.

The 17.7-mile loop with the total ascent and descent of nearly 6200 feet took me 8 hours and 50 minutes.

I had to take several breaks to cool down and to a wellness-check.  I have been very fortunate in my life and there is no reason to be careless while we are out in the wild.

I relearned my lesson the last time I hiked in Pennsylvania.

Stay hydrated and get some electrolytes into your body. Do your homework about heat and cold injuries to try to prevent them.