View Full Version : PA 309 N or S?
Hey guys,
I am planning to hike this wednesday starting at the PA 309 trailhead and I wanted to know which direction would be more interesting to take. This will just be a day hike, so about 5 or 6 miles in one direction will be the most I will do. I'd like to take the direction that would lead me onto the PA Knifes Edge, if that is close enough.
As far as parking goes, I can park at that restaraunt at the top of the 309 hill right? Thanks for any info you can give me.
mweinstone
12-29-2009, 09:23
yes you can park but inform/ask the owner as hes a trail angel and likes hikers to say high. walking either direction is fun. if your only going 5 mi it wont matter witch way. both are extreemly wonderful quiet broad ridges leading to nothing interesting. very meditative and easy walking.
http://www.bluemountainsummit.com/
mweinstone
12-29-2009, 10:00
ken the owners trailname is secret. its what they called him for haveing frizzy hair. but i just cant tell you here. ask him.
Southbound it's 5.4 miles to Tri-county Corner where Berks, Lehigh and Schuylkill Counties meet and BMECC began the task of locating and marking the A.T. in Berks. By the time Dr. Rentschler and his companions finished their work in 1931 they succeeded in establishing a footpath between Susquehanna and Lehigh Rivers, a distance of 102 miles.
In the opposite direction, it's 5.3 miles to Bake Oven Knob with many interesting rock formations along the way including Baer Rocks. Someone who keyed in the text for The Companion no doubt thought the vowels transposed.
Older guides have the name spelled correctly. Baer is a family name not uncommon among Pennsylvania Germans. In fact, it was a John Baer who led the BMECC party to Tri-county Corner in 1926.
mweinstone
12-29-2009, 10:15
bake oven knob aint right. take a pic and move on. sleepin their aint right. ask jester. blue mountain eagle climbing clubs once director, had the old applebee shelter given to him when he retired and it became nessesary to move it off the trail. it was in his yard and he converted it to a cabin. since he put me and 3 thrus up during hurricain agnus, i have allways called bmecc my adopted club. they meet in reading i belive.
All the early trailside shelters built by BMECC were referred to as cabins.
Sometime I will post an image of the final resting place of W. Fred Applebee and his wife. I walk by it often. His widow bought the land on which Applebee Cabin was built and paid for its construction. Like all other early shelters built too close to roads, it was removed years ago.
I think I will go north. Is the restaraunt even open wednesdays? On the website emerald provided it only has hours for thursdays thru sundays. There isn't anywhere else to park is there?
PUNKINPUSS11
12-29-2009, 18:21
north all the way beautiful vistas.plus theres an AT parking lot there, no need to park at the restaurant.
Blue Mountain Summit
[email protected]
A vehicle might be more secure nearer the building, but the owner may prefer hikers park elsewhere.
I'm uncertain about the finer points regarding property lines where the AT crosses PA 309 and how much is in public ownership, but believe the AT traverses State Game Lands.
Allentown Hiking Club's corridor management team would have the maps to answer the question of ownership with more precision if anyone needs to know. KTA's maps would give some indication.
Ken is GREAT. Park/Eat/Drink there. Definitely hike North, the Knife Edge and "Bear" Rocks are super, if wet/snowy/icy it will get your attention
Parked at the restaurant about a month ago, Ken was great. Told us to park near the treeline by the radiotower. Nobody vandalized my POS Ford.
Caveman of Ohio
12-29-2009, 20:07
The owner let us camp out in his backyard. They had a great band and some good food.
shelterbuilder
12-29-2009, 21:52
bake oven knob aint right. take a pic and move on. sleepin their aint right. ask jester. blue mountain eagle climbing clubs once director, had the old applebee shelter given to him when he retired and it became nessesary to move it off the trail. it was in his yard and he converted it to a cabin. since he put me and 3 thrus up during hurricain agnus, i have allways called bmecc my adopted club. they meet in reading i belive.
matthewski,
are you by chance refering to the "cabin" that's "next door" to the director's trailer?? Stories, stories....
When it became necessary to remove the Applebee Shelter, Bob (a past president) just "took charge" and removed it, carting some of the salvagable pieces back to his trailer, which was next to BMECC's Lundgren Cabin. After some time, he used some of the heavy plywood panels (3/4 inch plywood was, back in those days, really 3/4 of an inch thick!) to build a woodshed for the cabin - a simple little outbuilding whose roof sloped down to the ground. Eventually, the plywood that was touching the ground had to be replaced, and the woodshed roof was raised about 2 feet off of the ground. Imagine MY surprise (yes, I did the rebuild) when I found names and dates from the 60's and early 70's carved into the plywood!!:D
Back when the "first generation" shelters were being built, the prevailing wisdom was to build close to roads so that the maintainers could get back to them easier. Unfortunately, during the 60's and 70's, this made it easier for vandals and the "party-hearty" crowd to get in, too. These days, 2 miles from the nearest road is considered a minimum distance.
And yes, we meet in either Reading or Bernville (where we have some property)...first Wednesday of most months...come visit sometime. http://www.bmecc.org
Had a great hike. How far was it from 309 to Baer Rocks? I got what I thought was two miles past there but no Bake Oven Knob. Guess my distance judging is worse than I thought.
Oh and I did park up at the Restaurant, over closer to the radiotower. Restaurant was closed for Christmas holiday.
I've also always parked away from the restaurant, close to the radio tower, by the tree line and in plain sight of the road. Never had any problem there.
Panzer
Guess my distance judging is worse than I thought.
How far was it from 309 to Baer Rocks?
3.5 miles
I got what I thought was two miles past there but no Bake Oven Knob.
1.8 miles
http://www.aldha.org/companyn/wv-pa09.pdf:rolleyes:
Guess my distance judging is worse than I thought.
Indeed it is. It just seemed further to Baer Rocks, possibly because of all the rock hopping that was involved. Thanks for the info emerald, I have saved the aldha companion you linked.
Good to have saved it for another day. The treadway most of the way to Allentown Shelter is an old roadbed with many small rocks, a better place to hike than where you were today when covered with ice or snow.