[at-l] Tuscarora Trail

[ryan patrick bowles <rpbowles@midway.uchicago.edu>]

I got a request for a write-up of my Tuscarora Trail trip I took in
December of '98.  The cold I experienced may help negate the heat of the
summer.  Then again, maybe not.  This is long.
				Ryan
		Bacon Double Cheeseburger GA-ME '97

Tuscarora Trip report
Day 1: My friend Daniel and I started at about 11:00 on PA rt. 641 near
Spring Run.  We had a lot of water in out packs because we knew there
would be no water sources for about 11 miles.  We got Knob Mountain
without too much difficulty despite all the water weight, then settled in
for a long, fairly level stretch of trail.  It was really scenic, since
the mountain ridge was very narrow.  We could see the PA turnpike on our
right, with the mountain we would be crossing the next day a little
further off.  The narrow ridge also made it a little breezy, which,
considering it was December, wasn't such a great thing.  The trail was in
pretty good shape, especially considering the great potential for it to be
overgrown.  The ridge was also rocky, of course, and got generally worse
as the old road along the top faded away.  Much to our surprise, we passed
two other people out for a couple days on the TT on a weekday in December.
They passed us again later when we stopped for a snack, and we passed them
again while they set up camp.  When we decided it was time to look for a
campsite, it still took us over a mile to find a place large enough for us
to stretch two bivy sacks.  We enjoyed our first night at a dry camp with
just enough water to cook dinner and have enough to make it to the next
water supply.  I think we made it about 8 or 9 miles on the first day.

Day 2:  We got up at a reasonable time, ate breakfast, and hit the road
quickly.  After over ten years of experience backpacking together (even
though Daniel and I are only 24), we have managed to get a great rhythm in
setting up and taking down camp.  We continued along the same ridge for a
little longer, then enjoyed a long gradual descent off the mountain to
Hemlock road.  I should also note that, thanks to most of this mileage
being on an old road, it was relatively rock free, a rarity on the
Tuscarora.  When we got to the bottom, there was supposed to be a water
source, but we couldn't find it, I assume because it was dry after a
month-long drought.  So, we kept going with what little water we had left,
hoping and praying that the spring at the upcoming shelter would be
running.  After a couple quick miles over a steep but short ridge, we got
to the shelter and found a gushing spring.  I wonder how fast it is during
wet weather.  We stopped for a snack at the shelter, which is as beautiful
and any on the AT, but with a great new fireplace and the loving touch of
straw spread on the dirt floor.  The two guys we had met the day before
caught up to us there, but finished their trip soon after, so we didn't
see them again.  After the shelter, the trail went up another ridge, and
by up, I mean straight up, and by straight up, I mean just a collection of
blazes going straight up the mountain, where you have to climb steeply
rock to rock to get the top.  When you get to the top, you get to go edown
the other side, and by down, I mean straight down.  When you get to the
bottom, you get to go straight up another ridge, and up and down and up
and down.  Finally, we got to the top of the last ridge of the day, went
along the ridge about a mile and a half, and found a nice camping area,
that turned out to be within sight of a road that one car used during the
entire time we were there.  This was the second straight dry campsite.
Estimated mileage, 12 or so.

Day 3:  We got up and started walking on the easiest stretch of trail we
had seen so far- not too rocky, and level.  It didn't last.  After a
strange dip off the ridge, it went back up it steeply, then dropped off
the other side on a steep descent.  At the bottom, we took a nice break at
PA rt. 233 in Colonel Denning State Park, and hoped that some kind soul
would drop and offer us cheeseburgers.  It didn't happen.  Instead, we
started up a 1200 ft. climb, which, while not overly steep, still got our
calves burning after the previous day's rollercoaster.  Near the top, we
reached the only section of the TT that Daniel had hiked before, along the
access to Flat Rock, a great overview.  We took a short break there, short
because there was a very cold wind.  We were also pretty much out of
water.  After flat rock, the trail drops into a very pretty stream valley,
but the upper parts of the stream were dry.  This was scary.  We finally
got to a semi-stagnant pool, took water and iodined it, went another
quarter mile and found wonderfully clear moving stream water.  Too bad we
didn't have enough iodine to be able to dump the ugly stuff and replace it
with the nice.  Anyway, we kept going along, back up to a ridge, then
followed this ridge as it widened and came out into some logging activity,
where the trail follows a dirt logging road for about a mile.  Where the
logging road turned off the ridge, there was a good flat well used camping
area that we passed on because of its proximity to the road.  We shouldn't
have done that.  The next 3 miles were on very narrow, horribly rocky,
boot-breaking trail.  We were immediately looking for a place to camp, but
it took us 1.5 miles to find somewhere big enough even for two bivy sacks.
In addition, the wind was blowing hard and cold, and there was no
protection on the ridge.  Where we ended up was underneath some pine
trees, where, if we were laying down completely, was protected from the
wind, but was not if we lifted our heads even a little.  It was cold.
Really cold.

Day 4:  We got up and with frozen fingers, packed up.  With all of the
difficulty of the trail, we had decided on the nearer of two possible
ending points.  The trail for the rest of the way to rt. 74 was pretty
tame, although it did have one rough ascent.  However, the descent off the
mountain to the road was tame, and we finished before noon.  Daniel called
his dad to pick us up from a rural garage at the intersection of the trail
and rt 74.  As we waited for him, it started flurrying, although the sun
was out.  Daniel's dad told us that the weather forecast for the evening
was brutal cold with snow.  We had considered going five days when we were
planning, but thank goodness had decided against it.  We had pizza when we
got home.

Lessons: Pennsylvania can be very steep, and have lots of climbs, in
addition to being extremely rocky.
	The Tuscarora Trail is an undiscovered treasure.
	Don't expect boot leather to survive Pennsylvania rocks
unscratched.
	Always have a back up plan.
	Even in cold weather, you sweat enough to stink a car up after
four days of backpacking



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