tlbj6142
06-17-2008, 17:22
Where: NCT in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) from RT66 north to RT666 (Henry’s Mills) ~48.5 miles
When: 12-June-2008 thru 15-June-2008
Shuttle:
Prior to leaving I had arranged a shuttle by contacting the ANF chapter of the NCT at [email protected]. They put me in contact with the chapter president, Keith Klos, who agreed to pick us up on Thursday at 2:30pm at RT666 and drive us to the RT 66 trailhead. Keith didn’t want money, but suggested I make a donation to his chapter, so I did.
Trail:
Thursday my father and I hiked ~9 miles until 8:30pm. We stayed at the camp along Little Salmon Creek. This first section is a bit overgrown (I told Keith), otherwise it is fairly easy. We lost the trail a few times, but not for longer than a few minutes. There is an AT-style shelter, in a beautiful setting, about 6 miles from the trailhead we started, but we didn’t stay. We also passed a few non-operational (currently) oil/gas wells along the way.
Friday we left camp at 8am, the overgrowth continued until we were a couple miles south of Kellettville. Except for a few very short sections, the rest of the trail is clear from this point North. We stopped by Cougar Bob’s Tavern in Kellettville for lunch and to sit out our first of three nasty thunderstorms for the weekend. We were back on the trail by 4pm and continued our hike until 9pm at the Beaver Run camp (~17miles).
Saturday at 12am, our 2nd nasty thunderstorm came thru. It continued to rain most of the night, but I stayed dry in my HH. Around 8am a light rain started up again, we hit the trail by 9am. And just to make sure everything was good and wet; we had a 3rd thunderstorm at 4pm. We had several long level sections which allowed us to reach Hunter’s Station (a shelter) along Upper Sheriff Run by 6pm (~17miles).
Sunday we left camp by 8am, hiked past several operating gas/oil wells and reached our car by 11:20am (~5miles).
Comments:
If it weren’t for the ugly weather and the overgrown trail the first ~12 miles (Keith told me he would make cleaning up this section a priority), I’d say this was an easy hike as there are very few hills and most are short and not too steep. There are plenty of switchbacks on the two or three longer climbs. Water is readily available every 2-3 miles at high flowing creeks. This would be a great place for a fall and/or winter hike. 90% of the trail is wooded, but the canopy is high and thin allowing in quite a bit of sun (when available). The undergrowth is 80% ferns. We had very few problems with bugs on this trip. I never bothered to use DEET. The mosquitoes were bad at the Minister Creek camp we stopped at for a break Saturday afternoon.
We saw one day hiker on Thursday, no one (on the trail) Friday, 2 day hikers and 2 backpackers on Saturday. According to the several trail logs (at the shelters and some of the trailheads) we were a day or half-a-day behind a Scout troop doing a 50-miler. We used the NCT maps I purchased off their website (www.northcountrytrail.org (http://www.northcountrytrail.org/)). I wish the scale was a bit better, as at 1:100K some of the details are lost. But they worked. All but the first 3 miles are found on a single map, PA-01. Due to its format, the available trail guide is nearly useless for those, like us, hiking north.
I’ll post a link to a few pictures (didn’t get the camera out much due to the rain) later.
When: 12-June-2008 thru 15-June-2008
Shuttle:
Prior to leaving I had arranged a shuttle by contacting the ANF chapter of the NCT at [email protected]. They put me in contact with the chapter president, Keith Klos, who agreed to pick us up on Thursday at 2:30pm at RT666 and drive us to the RT 66 trailhead. Keith didn’t want money, but suggested I make a donation to his chapter, so I did.
Trail:
Thursday my father and I hiked ~9 miles until 8:30pm. We stayed at the camp along Little Salmon Creek. This first section is a bit overgrown (I told Keith), otherwise it is fairly easy. We lost the trail a few times, but not for longer than a few minutes. There is an AT-style shelter, in a beautiful setting, about 6 miles from the trailhead we started, but we didn’t stay. We also passed a few non-operational (currently) oil/gas wells along the way.
Friday we left camp at 8am, the overgrowth continued until we were a couple miles south of Kellettville. Except for a few very short sections, the rest of the trail is clear from this point North. We stopped by Cougar Bob’s Tavern in Kellettville for lunch and to sit out our first of three nasty thunderstorms for the weekend. We were back on the trail by 4pm and continued our hike until 9pm at the Beaver Run camp (~17miles).
Saturday at 12am, our 2nd nasty thunderstorm came thru. It continued to rain most of the night, but I stayed dry in my HH. Around 8am a light rain started up again, we hit the trail by 9am. And just to make sure everything was good and wet; we had a 3rd thunderstorm at 4pm. We had several long level sections which allowed us to reach Hunter’s Station (a shelter) along Upper Sheriff Run by 6pm (~17miles).
Sunday we left camp by 8am, hiked past several operating gas/oil wells and reached our car by 11:20am (~5miles).
Comments:
If it weren’t for the ugly weather and the overgrown trail the first ~12 miles (Keith told me he would make cleaning up this section a priority), I’d say this was an easy hike as there are very few hills and most are short and not too steep. There are plenty of switchbacks on the two or three longer climbs. Water is readily available every 2-3 miles at high flowing creeks. This would be a great place for a fall and/or winter hike. 90% of the trail is wooded, but the canopy is high and thin allowing in quite a bit of sun (when available). The undergrowth is 80% ferns. We had very few problems with bugs on this trip. I never bothered to use DEET. The mosquitoes were bad at the Minister Creek camp we stopped at for a break Saturday afternoon.
We saw one day hiker on Thursday, no one (on the trail) Friday, 2 day hikers and 2 backpackers on Saturday. According to the several trail logs (at the shelters and some of the trailheads) we were a day or half-a-day behind a Scout troop doing a 50-miler. We used the NCT maps I purchased off their website (www.northcountrytrail.org (http://www.northcountrytrail.org/)). I wish the scale was a bit better, as at 1:100K some of the details are lost. But they worked. All but the first 3 miles are found on a single map, PA-01. Due to its format, the available trail guide is nearly useless for those, like us, hiking north.
I’ll post a link to a few pictures (didn’t get the camera out much due to the rain) later.