I decided to hike in the Shawnee State Forest in Ohio. I
planned out a 17-mile loop out of two different loops. I used parts of the east
and west day hike loops and part of the North loop of the backpacker’s trail.
Some of the characteristics of forest I did not expect. the
section of forest I hiked through was young. I mean less than 40 years overall
if I had to guess.
One of the many reasons I bring this up is because of the
canopy coverage of the trees. Unlike many older forests they have much denser
canopy where the sun can't penetrate down to the trail.
While hiking now I carry 5 litres of water. For me this is
good for 90-degree weather and 20 miles. With the lack of water resources on
the ridges, it could be extremely dangerous for others who are not prepared.
Along with the minimal water available one needs to be
concerned about other heat-related injuries. I'm not attempting to be Debbie downer
but being real and preparing for anyone who hikes down there or who is thinking
about it.
The backpacking trail has undergone major renovations. Some
storms have rained down havoc on the trail.
I guess by the tracked vehicle marks they have had at least
one Bobcat type of vehicle in there to clear the obstructions.
They have a lot of them gone in the North section I hiked.
They back dragged the entire trail that I saw. They added water bars and made
other terrain changes.
I departed from Turkey Creek Lake, and I was on my way. The
sun was trying to peak over the hills.
The first ascent was 379 feet in 0.86 miles, and you could
tell in the winter this would be a great view. It’s obstructed by trees, but it
would still be nice.
The back-to-back ascents here in the first 2.25 miles are
nearly the same.
Approximately at mile 5 I would begin my road work. Maggie
joined me until she found someone else “story of my life”. Lol
This road grade would be over 2.60 miles and ascend 520
feet.
It was a nice work out and then the Shawnee roller coaster
would begin.
After getting off the road I would be greeted by an ascent
of 308 feet over 0.55 miles.
Again, here you could tell a piece of equipment that had
been used to back drag the trail.
I was really hoping that all the trails would be single
track, but one never really knows what they are going to find until they get
there.
Sometimes a much-needed breeze would hit me to cool down
even more.
Water Spigot @ N38° 46.246' W83° 09.703'
For this loop I think the best view in the winter of late
spring would be here N38° 45.508' W83° 11.241'.
The exposed bed rock and finger you are standing on makes it
extremely scenic. I also think you could hike out to the end of the finger, and
the view would be even better.
The growth of the young forest would make the views so
impressive with no leaves on the trees IMHO.
In closing this winding and hilly trail is not designed for
a new hiker. The hydration requirements for this hike are very demanding. This trail being a ridge runner for the most
of it the ephemeral streams this time of year are dead low.
If you go, plan ahead and do not take any chances.
I had chosen early in the week to hike a part of the Laurel
Highlands Hiking Trail (LHHT).
After much research and watching other YouTube videos I had
chosen these two sections. The shorter section was to see the ledges I could
see on the aerials I was looking at. This section was 5.2 miles long
Then I decided to go to the Highlands Market and ask permission to park in there parking lot for the day and continue the
hike. This section of the hike was 10.2 miles long.
Truth to be told I had to turn around and go back to the
Soob because I left my wallet out in the car lol. Then I thought I couldn’t re-hike
that so decided to go elsewhere on the LHHT.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have
deemed this stream closed for taking drinking water from it. They have found heavy
metals in it.
They also say the water hand pump Grindle Ridge should not
be used.
In these two sections of the trail as you can see with the attached
profiles, they are very manageable regarding elevation change.
The vista at N40° 01.413' W79° 18.666' is at an elevation of
nearly 3000’.They have harvested trees
selectively to open the scenic view there.
A few words of caution for these trail sections. When it
rains this area would be a nightmare. With all the exposed clay on the slopes
of the inclines would be extremely tough and the footbeds of the trails would
become creeks.
The food at the Market was a nice treat.
All in all, these two sections are very enjoyable.
Nestled in Washington & Monroe
County, Ohio sits Wayne National Forest (WNF).
The one trail I would select for Saturday’s
hike would be the Archers Fork Trail.
The trail would have a good amount
of elevation deviation throughout its length.
The parking lot is small at the
trailhead, but there is another trailhead in the area you could park if this
lot is full. One of the trailheads is called Jackson Run Trail located here N39°
30.839' W81° 09.092'.
A lot of this route is in the creek gorges and small
valleys. I would be extremely careful during any rain events in this area. This
area is prone to flash floods and extreme care needs to be taken.
WNF is working hard to remove the trees off the trail, and
they have done an amazing job.
I saw several hikes in primitive camping sites, some on the
tops of the hills and a few in the creek bottoms. They all had some type of fire-rings
and some large enough for multiple tents.
This area is packed full of deer so be vigilant when
driving. When you are driving through these small boroughs and villages don’t speed,
these communities are small.
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 chose to wake up and drive over to the Cuyahoga Valley
National Park. The overnight low was going to be 18 degrees.
I knew that only the silliest of hikers would be out this
morning. I saw four woman that must have started when the sun came up lol. They
were in their 70’s you go girls!!!
One of the hardest things I think of while hiking below
freezing temps is how do I dress?
I carry a pack so I can always take layers off, but if you
leave it in the car, you can never have it. So, with that said you need to
think of what your pace is going to be and will the heat transfer adequately enough
so that your skin stays relatively dry enough.
If the sweat stays on your skin because of the clothing you’re
wearing will not allow the sweat to transfer though your layers you will be
miserable and cold!!!
I had chosen a nearly 12-mile hike. I had to create this
trail loop because it’s a combination of three trails. The two trails are The Wetmore Bridal, Lake
and Salt Run, and part of the Cross Country Trail.
I saw several deer foraging in the woods for food. I did see
all kinds of small birds. It was supposed to get to 25 degrees, and I can
attest that did not happen ..lol….
Mount Davis is in the Laurel Highlands Region of
Pennsylvania. Mount Davis is the highest point in Pennsylvania at an elevation
of 3,213 feet or 979 m.
In past visits to this area, really enjoyed my time there.
I chose to look at Alltrails.com to see what estimated mileage they would give
me for any trails around there.
I also need to add that the Forbes State Forest is broken
into a few different areas. For example the one area is Forbes Sate Forest –
Mount Davis Natural Area in Elk Lick Township, Quebec Run Wild Area in Gibbon
Glade, Roaring Run Natural Area in Doegal Township Pennsylvania.
The website estimated length was 5.7 miles and because I
know that they are never correct unless its flat ground it would be longer with
all the elevation deviation I would most likely encounter.
The trail ended up being a loop of 6.5 miles long. It was
not an extreme up and down, only one long grade climb. The footing was a little
techy in some areas and that’s because of loose rocks with snow and ice on
them.
The beautiful mountain laurel was everywhere in some areas.
They recently did some trail care and cut back the mountain laurel, so the
trail is more obvious.
I did see bear tracks in the snow and a bevy of coyote scat.
When I first arrived on Tuesday the 23rd the fog
was so thick and navigating harder than it needed to be I decided not to
attempt any hiking on Mount Davis.
I pulled into the little sleepy town of Meyersdale to get
some breakfast. IMHO these little sleepy towns have the best food.I found the best little breakfast place in
town. It was called Donges Drive-in Motel, and they can be found here https://www.dongesdriveinmotel.com/
Everything is made from scratch, but if you want sausage
gravy they only do that on Saturday. The
prices are very low and the food is delicious.
I chose to head up to Wolf Rocks and Beams Rocks instead to
see if I could get a break from all this fog. The next area would be about 1300
feet lower than Mount Davis and my hope was it would be below the fog.
The conditions of the roads were not bad and they were only
wet. It was not until I reached the dreaded sign that said “no winter
maintenance” is where the driving conditions got bad.
My Subaru Legacy was doing well on the slick roads and that
was until the road grades got steeper. I felt the back end slip a bit and
thought on this narrow forest road with these deep open ditches on the side if
I slipped into one, I would have to be pulled out.
I chose to do a 6 point turn to turn around and get back to
the main road.
After a little bit of anxiety, I got back to the main
road.I did not get to see the two rocky
ledges and will return some day.
So, I decided to head to the hotel room and beg them to
allow me to check in early.
They did and I stayed in the Days Inn off the turnpike in
Somerset. The Days Inn was hmm clean and the rooms over feel were below
average. I know I was only paying 150.00 dollars for two nights tax included,
but the finishing touches on the room left a lot to be desired.
The new pain on the walls was missing in spots. The TV
console covers one of the electrical outlets. The doors to my room had a gap so
big you could see the carpet in the hallway.The lock to the door was good and substantial.
It’s been a while since I stayed at a hotel that has
multiple floors. Normally when I have stayed at such hotels you need a key to
get into the back door of the first floor. Well at this Days Inn its free range
and anyone can come and go through the back door to get into the hotel.
I told this to the manager slash hotel owner I am guessing
and his remark to me was “they can’t get into your room”. I thought well isn’t
that a strange way to say you’re not concerned about the safety of the people
who stay at your hotel. Yes, they have a camera inside the building in the
hallway, but if a person has an altercation, it’s already too late they are in
the building.
I will never stay here again and if you’re just a worker in
the area in the oil and gas field I can see this being a place you would stay
at. It’s cheap and it is close to the highway and to shopping. For you to
minimize a person’s personal safety that’s says you don’t care and so I don’t
care to stay there again.
I checked in and cleaned up and went to go find some place
to eat. After a little driving I found the perfect tavern. It is called Glades
Pike Taverne and you will not find a better place to eat, drink, and they have
live entertainment. You will also not find a more diverse menu either!
The Stromboli I had was made from scratch and it was a
medium and the large are nearly double this size see photo below.
After a few beers I headed back to the hotel.
I was in the for the night and with the thick fog,
non-maintained winter roads, and high winds I was having a planning dilemma.
Where do I go and what time should I get there?
I thought I could return to Mount Davis and attempt at a
time lapse of the sunrise. What time should I get there, I was thinking. I will
get there later than I want to make the odds in my favor that the fog has moved
out. I knew I would miss the sun
breaking across the horizon, but I wanted to make sure the weather had pushed
through.
Sure, enough I had missed the prime part of the sunrise, but
there was still a window for some decent cloud formation time lapse photography
opportunities left.
After I got off the fire tower, I drove down the road to the
trail head of the Mount Davis Highpoint Trail. It was possible to make this a
longer hike but starting at noon and making it longer would not make it a great
idea.
I started at roughly at noon and it took me basically 4
hours with all the stops for photo opportunities. Most of the trail I would
call rolling down and up. The first takes you to the valley bottom of Tub Mill
Run and in the second part you climb up out of the valley for 1.95 miles. The
slopes are not tough, but they could be strenuous depending on how physically
fit you are.
This video depicts the grades you will need to hike.
By the time I got to the fire tower and was on the last leg
of the hike I only had about 2 hours to get to my car. With a mile left I
nearly jogged to my car. At least I was going downhill and maybe 3 mph walking,
but I was not going to miss this sunset.
I rolled to the car and got in as quickly as I could and
drove back to the fire tower. I was a little shocked that no one else was here.
I grabbed all my gear plus a couple of extra layers because
as the sun drops the temperatures would plummet.
I set up my tri pods, one for my GoPro13 and the other for
my Olympus TG6.The GoPro13 would be set
up for timelapse only.Once I started
the session, I would need to not touch it until it was time to leave.
I arranged my gear to still allow others to enjoy the fire
tower if anyone else had shown up. After watching the sun take its final breath
I had had enough. It was cold and the wind was starting to blow harder.
I stopped the GoPro from recording and as soon as I did that
a coyote let out a howl so loud I thought it was up in the fire tower with me.
I flipped on my head lamp and got my gear together quickly. I have never heard
of a coyote attacking a human, but I did not want to test that theory today.
I got my pack stuffed with gear and pulled my bear spray out
and then I heard a few more coyote’s howl. They were not that far away, and I
moved a little quicker to the car. My head lamp was on, and I was not trying to
be too quick, but just quick enough lol.
Finally, I got back into the vehicle and headed back to the
hotel.
This area has so much to offer everyone. It just takes time
to explore so go out and enjoy it and be courteous to others.
