Thoughts from the Road - #1211

Back Tracking

The run down near Benner Springs on Thursday sounded so enjoyable that Jimmy the Eye chose that location for our run this morning. The morning was again a crisp 17° but instead of a crystal clear sky a persistent glowing haze and contrail tracks muted the sun's rays a bit.

We parked at the commuter lot at the top of the hill and carefully started down the, now maintained, steep road. I could see the road could easily be icy so we kept a careful pace. When we reached the bottom there were about 4 cars in the parking area but no one was around. Jimmy joked that because the gates were open and the hours allowed they were probably taking advantage of the visiting hours at the fish hatchery.

We chose to run on the trail the whole way to the no trespassing area. What a difference a couple of days made on this trail, there were tracks of all kinds! The first thing we noticed were something like sled tracks in and out. Sadly, with a trail of blood drops, we pieced together that it was a carcass of an animal that had been shot and dragged out by hunters. A gut pile, somewhat off trail, soon confirmed that.

What is sad and gross to some made for an amazing morning buffet for others! Jimmy was actually able to determine the location of the pile well before we reached it because it had drawn the attention of crows, ravens and 2 bald eagles! Pace calculator be damned, I stopped and took photos of these beauties!

Deer tracks were now all along the trail as well as what looked like bobcat and a bear! I saw them on the way out, made Jimmy the Eye come back as we jogged back and forth and I showed him again and again the super large pads along the trail. On the way back I stopped for a photo of one of the best with my hand for scale. Such an awesome print in the snow, leathery pad wrinkles and all.

Even the shoulders going up the hill had a lot more signed of animal life. I saw a lot of deer tracks and again some very large cat-like tracks. They were all welcome distractions and my lead legs took their time. A car needed to pass us and we went single file to make room, Jimmy the Eye took the lead. Zoom! Up that hill he went and I can't blame him, why prolong it when you can open up your stride.

Back at the car we stretched out and looked at our photos. We were both so pleased to have back tracked to get them and share them on this blog.

Spring Peepers

We did hear some spring peepers today while we peeped at many Spring sights at Little Pine State Park. We also saw some eagles on and off of their nest. We did a little hiking, a little letterboxing and had a little picnic.

The craziest thing was running into some local fellows who had biked up to Blackwell yesterday and were stopping for a break before heading back to State College. I am not someone to talk to strangers so let me say that I actually approached them because I recognized them as CRPR employees. It was Kurt & Kurt and another guy. I think they were about as shocked as we were to see each other. I was so glad to have introduced myself (after 3 years!) to Kurt. It was actually Kurt I recognized because of his stature and hair but RGBisMe said, "Yeah and I think that is the other Kurt with him."

"Other Kurt" used to be my lucky guy any day I saw him as I rode through the park. If I got to say, "Hi" to him I knew it would be a good day. This must be an awesome week since I not only introduced myself to him on Monday but we ran into him again today. I think it's going to be a hella good Spring.

We found all 3 letterboxes we had been seeking. We had gone last Autumn but started out too late in the day to have much time to look. We also had started at the wrong trail head last year and by the time we changed our seeking methods it was getting dark. Today we even checked on another box in the park and everything seemed great with it.

After a milkshake in Waterville we drove home. We didn't expect to see the Kurts nor their companion because the took a different route back after Jersey Shore. RGBisMe and I had such a pleasant day together. We snacked on the trail while listening to spring peepers, laughed with the Kurts, saw eagles through binoculars, got 3 awesome stamp impressions and hiked in the sun. Good times.

Central Pennsylvania Hiking in March

Most of the letterboxes we went looking for were either frozen into place, under a foot (that's 12 inches) of snow, or under so much ice we couldn't even say for sure that we had found the right location.

Hiking on trails that were solid sheets of ice were the most challenging. That and snow that was packed so hard and then had glazed over. That is what we found this weekend in the northern third of Pennsylvania.

We visited Friday with Tracdc and Satan. She was lucky enough to get a photo of a bald eagle and it's nest along the Juniata River.

Today we found more snow, more glazed trails and a wonderful 4+ mile hike to a find a local geocache. The trails around Shingletown Gap were just lovely. We walked in the valley by the stream and hopped some rocks ridge top. Hill Climber multicache is a perfect sample of great hiking within miles of my home.