Day 1
Thursday, September 28, 2017
My alarm was going off. It was 5 am and still dark outside. I was excited. Instead of a long commute to work, a backpacking trip. The Black Forest Trail.
I hit the road. The Black Forest Trail trailhead in Slate Run is roughly 3 hours from my house, so I stopped at local Sheetz and picked up breakfast. Two breakfast burritos, a glazed donut, and a hot coffee later, I was back in the car and listening to a podcast that would last the entire drive.
Arrived in Slate Run and found the trailhead without a problem. The trailhead and parking were well marked and easy to see from the car.
A short walk down to the BFT proper and I signed into the trail registry. At this point, I was pretty amped up. I had first learned about the Black Forest Trail during a Penn State Football weekend while shopping at a local outdoor equipment store called Appalachian Outdoors. They had a copy of Chuck Dillon's guide amongst their hiking/backing supplies and I picked it up out of curiosity. It was an impulse buy... four years ago.
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The stars had finally aligned and I was in Tiadaghton State Forest. But I was hitting the trail solo, which was also unusual. So yeah, I was also amped for a solo trip.
I decided to hike the BFT counter-clockwise and started the hike with a climb out of Slate Run. The climb was pleasant enough, but after maybe 500 feet of elevation gain, a murder of crows started cawing at me. No big deal, right? But these particular crows followed me, cawing the entire time, up to the top, past the vista, and then on for another half mile or so. What an inauspicious start to my hike!
Eventually, the crows lost interest and I could enjoy the pleasant terrain. The trail was marvelous. Compared to the AT in my part of Pennsylvania, this was a moss-covered superhighway. Very few rocks. Some leaf litter. Sometimes a narrow cut trail, other times an old logging road. Only when descending into or out of a run did the trail get rocky, but even then, marvelous.
The first decent, into Red Run, was the first experience of such rocks and there were lots of them. Traveling down them was somewhat slow going, but it was beautiful so I hardly noticed or cared.
I had lunch at a small waterfall on Little Morris Run. The map suggested that there was another climb, so I drank a bunch of water and continued on. The climb up and out was completely different than the previous descent. The climb out was a combination of dirt roads, bridges, and steep trail. The most impressive part was a long steady climb on what the guide calls the Chestnut Ridge Trail. This trail was an old dirt road that climbed 600 feet over a half mile. It was a straight climb up and up and up but was also very beautiful.
After the climb, the trail and terrain provided some opportunities for fast moving. I stopped at a vista or two and sent out a text to my wife. "ALL IS OK". Most of the vistas provided cell reception along with their fantastic views. Cell reception was otherwise extremely limited.
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Back on the trail and moving fast. Too fast because I ended up within a poles distance to a big timber rattlesnake. It was tucked away in some brown ferns on the edge of the trail. Its head was facing me and it seemed to notice me as well. I manage several steps backward before it began to rattle. I was thoroughly impressed with the size of this snake, the biggest rattlesnake that I have ever seen in person.
After a short snake detour, I climbed up onto Pipeline Road found the intersection of the Sentiero DiShay Ski and the Black Forest Trails. The two would follow each other for the next mile or so.
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Shortly thereafter, I crossed Route 44 and watched four Harley's cruise south with music blaring.
Took a longer water break at the first signs of the County Line Branch. Swapped socks and let my feet air dry.
Hiking along the County Line Branch was very nice. By my count, I crossed the stream a total of 20 times. The guide says 19, so I probably lost count. None of the crossings required wet feet. At least not in September. But there was clear evidence of higher water.
I reached the point where the Black Forest Trail leaves the County Line Branch and starts uphill. It was just past 4 pm and I had covered 16 miles. There was a fantastic looking camp there and I was extremely tempted to call it a day. Instead, I decided to grab some water and delay dinner for the vista at the top of the climb.
The vista was OK. Sun was in my eyes. The warmth felt good, but the glare made photos tough. The vista was small but contained a few nice rocks to sit on. Out came the cook kit, which contains way too many pieces. Chowed down on rice and beans.
The trail continued on through some hardwoods and I ran into a pair of pheasants. I love the booming sound of their flight. From hardwoods to a surprise clearing and marshy wetlands. The trail in this part was extremely narrow and surrounded by low grassy growth.
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I descended down to a small stream and found a campsite there. It was 6:15 and the next marked campsite was at least 4 miles away. Pitched tent, washed up, changed, and hung my first PCT-style bear bag. The hang itself was easy, finding an appropriate branch was a little harder.
It was dark early, at 7:15. I had no cell reception and no one to talk with. The solo aspect of this hike really sunk in. I started a small fire to keep busy, studied the map preparing for tomorrow's trail, and took some notes for the day.
Day1 highlights
18.25 miles
0 other hikers
1 rattlesnake
2 pheasants
3 climbs