Bezabor: Concours pegs, another Fowlers Hollow trip (posted from home)
Monday, 17 April-
The temperature overnight dropped to the high thirties so I was glad to have parked in a spot that allowed the sun to warm the van as it came up. I could have plugged in the electric heater overnight but didn’t really need it. We’ve found that we’re very comfortable without heat overnight into the low forties so I didn’t bother. I had over-done walking yesterday and was in no rush to get up. By the time I had breakfast it was nearly ten. I then drove to the district forest office near New Germantown and picked up the latest forest map and trail map and chatted with Sharon, the lady who issues state forest camping permits. These permits are free and allow you to camp at designated camping areas in the forest, typically an open area with nothing but perhaps a fire-ring. The good news is you get a campsite well away from anyone else, some of them in pretty remote areas. The bad news is that the office is only open Monday-Friday, you have to register in advance, and you have to have the permit on you while camping. Last year Sharon allowed me to register via fax one Friday afternoon and then left the signed permit outside the office for me to pick up on Saturday but that’s about as automated as it gets.
After my visit with Sharon, I drove to a horse-camping campsite at the Alfarata Trail along Hemlock Road. I’ve seen horse trailers there in the past and wanted to look around; there were several trails in the area. And that led to my finding an unmarked trail which led to a nice view at the top of the knoll and then on to the back side of the dark-sky observation area. As I came back down the trail, I saw another large turkey running through the hitching-post area behind the parking lot.
Then I drove to campsite 66 along Hemlock Road at the top of Rising Mountain and parked there for lunch. On the way up Hemlock Road, a largish bird had flown across the road and landed in a tree nearby. I stopped and wished I had had my camera— I believe it was a red-shouldered hawk (see http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-shouldered_Hawk_dtl.html) At the campsite I was making lunch when I heard many small-bird sounds come into the trees around me—very raucous. It was a herd of goldfinches! They were at the tops of the trees and were feeding on the red buds of the trees. These were American Goldfinches and looked like this: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Goldfinch.html
There were birds in each of the plumages shown but of course it was the fantastic gold of the male in breeding plumage drew the most attention.
After lunch I drove back to Fowlers Hollow and took a walk along the stream bank to see if I could see any fish. I only saw two and the water us ultra-clear so I imagine fishing might be a little tough. I went up the bank opposite the campground which leads in five minutes or so to shelter number 1. There I read in the logbook that the write had caught two native trout and a stocked trout nearby on Saturday.
I then drove back across the mountain into Henry’s Valley and the Ant Hill Trail. I had seen it on the map and thought I’d like to take the Ant Hill trail to its intersection with the Middle Ridge Trail and see what that area looks like, i.e., if it was as nice as the section of Middle Ridge Trail I had been on yesterday. The Ant Hill trail leads past a remote cabin, crosses a beautiful stream, and then ascends the ridge. It’s a strenuous hike for the half-mile climb up the ridge but once it levels off it’s heaven. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the trail intersection and then I decided to continue out the Ant Hill Trail to its intersection with Cowpens Road and then come back and if I still felt like exploring, then I’d do the Middle Ridge Trail section. But once again the trail led me on. The section to Cowpens Road was fantastic, alternating between a narrow trail through overhanging knee-high greenery to expansive views of the just-starting-to-bud forest around me. At the road, it seemed like the Ant Hill trail should go on. The map showed the Tuscarora Trail to be only a short distance into the woods on the other side but it was paralleling the road and therefore perpendicular to the Ant Hill Trail. And a short distance to my right- about a quarter mile- Tuscarora Trial crossed the road. So I decided to see the trail crossing. There the sign said “Colonel Denning State Park, 9 miles” northbound and “Three Square Hollow Road, 2 miles” southbound. I had passed Three Square Hollow Road turnoff just before finding the trailhead for the Ant-Hill Trail so that would make a nice loop. I then noticed that another trail, the North Fork Trail would work even better – it would get me back to the van without any road-walking.
The Tuscarora Trail across the top was one of the best trails I’ve seen. There were almost no rocks, just a nice, soft carpet of leaves and needles winding through the forest. The descent was much less steep than the Ant Hill Trail and it wasn’t long till I hit the North Fork Trail. That trail was more rugged but eventually led my to a perfect area for camping and fishing along the stream, then out an old forest road to its intersection with the Ant Hill Trail and my van.
By that time it was 1700 and home beckoned. But there’s still a lot more to see.
Sunday, 16 April-
With more unexpected good weather again today I was at a bit of a loss this morning to decide what to do. I was still a little stiff from yesterday’s walk but thought I’d like to go back to the Tuscarora State Forest in Mocha Joe for a day or two. Labashi had decided she wanted to work in the yard again today so I was on my own.
I drove to the Tuscarora State Forest via Landisburg and entered at Laurel Run Road which soon turns to gravel. At the Frank Masland Natural Area sign I saw a nice little red-blazed trail leading away— the Garrett Trail. I was only going to walk it a short way to get a feel for it but it kept drawing me on. I just wanted to see what was around the next bend, then the next, and before long it was descending toward a trout stream I knew lay at the bottom of the valley. There the trail intersected with the Sheriff Trail, about a half-mile from my starting point. I turned upstream onto the Sheriff Trail which is a particularly beautiful area—no wonder it’s preserved as a Natural Area. The stream is crystal-clear and winds through hemlocks, some of them old-growth size. I ambled along for a half-mile or so until it intersected the Deer Hollow Trail. As I stood there, a sharp-shinned hawk came zooming down through the trees, crossing from right to left at high speed. Just as it reached the trail it flared right, only a foot or two above the ground, showing me the vivid white of its underside. It looked just like the hawk we had seen at Buck Lake in Florida’s Ocala National Forest and later identified as a sharp-shinned. I continued upstream, now on the North Bench Trail, thinking I should be able to make a loop out of this walk if I continued following the stream to the bridge, then I could return to the van by the forest road. I came to a ribbon marker someone had tied to a tree along the trail and I could see a line of markers leading toward the stream bank. I followed out of curiosity, wondering whether I’d find a favorite fishing hole, a stream crossing, or a good hunting spot or maybe a treasure chest. At the stream bank, I saw the reason for the ribbon: there was deer hair all about. A hunter must have shot a deer and dragged it to that point, then marked where he left it to seek assistance getting it out of that remote spot.
As I returned to the trail I realized I might be letting myself in for a longer walk than I realized. I didn’t have a map and I was only guess-timating how far it would be to the bridge. I did know that it’s a long, long uphill slog on the forest road from the bridge to the parking lot. In the end, I decided to return downstream to the Deer Hollow trail and use it as a steeper-but-shorter way back to the van.
Once back at Mocha Joe, I moved it to another parking area at the top of the hill where I knew there was another trail I wanted to try later and had a late lunch. With the warm sun streaming in it wasn’t long until I decided I needed a nap. It was wonderful to have the van doors open in the light breeze and before long I fell asleep. A half-hour-or-so later I heard a car approaching on the forest road. Actually there were two vehicles, apparently traveling together and they stopped—which seemed odd. I sat up to look and at that moment heard a little cluck right outside the rear door of the van. It was a turkey, a hen, easing along and apparently pecking tiny stones from the parking lot, perhaps as grit for its gizzard. The vehicles soon tired of watching the turkey (and I’m sure they wondered what the heck the story was with the turkey right beside the open doors of my van) and moved on. I laid back down and tried to nap a little more. But after 20 minutes or so I got up and there was the turkey again, wandering around the parking lot, pecking at everything. I had been purposefully staying out of the line of sight of the turkey or moving only when it was looking the other way. But now I stepped outside the van and walked around to where she could see me. No big deal—she just walked a little further away! For some reason Ms. Turkey wasn’t nearly as wary of humans as she should be.
I then headed out on the Middle Ridge Trail and it turned out to be a winner. The first part of the trail is two-track forest road and would make a great bicycle ride. Then the trail turned up into the woods along a deer exclosure fence until it brought me out to a jeep trail. Way ahead, I saw a much larger turkey cross, running for all it was worth. I topped out and the trail turned into beautiful rhododendron but it was getting too late—I had to start heading back to make it out before dark.
Back at the van, I drove on to Fowlers Hollow State Park. Since it was a Sunday evening I expected to be alone or nearly alone in the campground but there were four sites in use. I later learned that three of them were occupied by a group from the Harrisburg area, dads who had brought their kids fishing since Monday was a holiday for them. Cost for camping Sunday through Thursday is $12 a night and is a good deal considering that they’ve just upgraded the campground facilities and run electricity to all the campsites.
The evening was very pleasant. I just had time to make supper as it grew dark and then I sat out watching the stars come out. I realized that the state forest’s dark-sky observation area is actually quite close—probably within a half-mile as the crow flies so I should be able to see well. And that indeed was the case. Even though there were clouds occasionally, there were so many stars I had a difficult time recognizing the constellations.
Saturday, 15 April-
It was supposed to be a rainy day according to the forecast most of the week but suddenly that changed and today’s weather was fine. I decided to install a footpeg lowering kit on the Concours. These adapters move the footpegs down and forward slightly so your knees are not bent quite so sharply. The Concours is a ‘sport-touring’ motorcycle, meaning that it has characteristics of both the so-called ‘crotch-rocket’ sports bikes (it has a modified Ninja engine, for example) and also characteristics of touring bikes (a full fairing and windshield). The rider position had a little too much of the sporty forward lean and the pegs are a little high for longer-distance touring. I replaced the handlebars to provide a more upright seating position and a higher aftermarket windshield back in the summer of 2003. I’ve been OK with the footpeg position until now but that’s mostly because I don’t ride long distances. I’ve only done four 300+ mile days and my knees were talking to me toward the end of those rides. Now that I have some time available, I want to do some longer, multi-day rides, thus the change to the pegs.
The installation was supposed to be easy enough that my mother could do it (according to a set of instructions from one of the Concours Owner’s Group guys) but Mom would have had some extra work to do this time—the parts didn’t fit! I had to use a rat-tail file and my bench grinder to modify the adapters slightly so they would fit. I also had problems with the threads on the brake-lever adjuster and with the brake light switch but finally, even though Mom wasn’t there, I got it all working properly. The foot and leg positions now feel more natural and that’s a good thing.
I took the bike for a test ride to be sure the adjustments to foot position, transmission shifter, and brake lever all worked together well. Then I zoomed in to Rocky Ridge park and took a walk. This one was a long one, starting out with a 20-minute jog, then a walk to the far end of the park and back, jogging for a few minutes here and there for a total of two hours. That did me in – I could hardly put my motorcycling safety gear back on for the trip home.
That evening we watched part of the Ingmar Bergman ‘Wild Strawberries’ DVD. We started with an interview done in 1998 on Swedish television and that lasted longer than expected so we’ll do the movie another day. The interview was quite interesting—Bergman was a tortured soul for much of his life and frankly talked about being admitted to ‘a nut house’ for three weeks and how he must today (at the time of the interview) have an hour-by-hour plan for his day to avoid going crazy.
Friday, 14 April-
Today I went into Eastern Market in York to get some fresh orange juice and a nice eye-round, hopefully for a roast this weekend. Traffic was terrible—the worst I’ve seen it around the market place and it took me a few minutes to realize that it was because today is Good Friday—lots of folks are preparing for the holiday. With the fresh food along I had to go straight home but later in the day I took the mountain bike over to Pinchot State Park to play a little more. I only lasted about an hour but that was enough to get my heart rate up several times. Despite all the talk about the lack of rain, the trails had lots of mud and some big puddles so I spent more time on the campground roads. I was surprised to see how many people are out camping already but again, I suppose that’s because of the long weekend.
That evening we watched another Decalogue episode and two episodes of ‘24’.
Monday, 17 April-
The temperature overnight dropped to the high thirties so I was glad to have parked in a spot that allowed the sun to warm the van as it came up. I could have plugged in the electric heater overnight but didn’t really need it. We’ve found that we’re very comfortable without heat overnight into the low forties so I didn’t bother. I had over-done walking yesterday and was in no rush to get up. By the time I had breakfast it was nearly ten. I then drove to the district forest office near New Germantown and picked up the latest forest map and trail map and chatted with Sharon, the lady who issues state forest camping permits. These permits are free and allow you to camp at designated camping areas in the forest, typically an open area with nothing but perhaps a fire-ring. The good news is you get a campsite well away from anyone else, some of them in pretty remote areas. The bad news is that the office is only open Monday-Friday, you have to register in advance, and you have to have the permit on you while camping. Last year Sharon allowed me to register via fax one Friday afternoon and then left the signed permit outside the office for me to pick up on Saturday but that’s about as automated as it gets.
After my visit with Sharon, I drove to a horse-camping campsite at the Alfarata Trail along Hemlock Road. I’ve seen horse trailers there in the past and wanted to look around; there were several trails in the area. And that led to my finding an unmarked trail which led to a nice view at the top of the knoll and then on to the back side of the dark-sky observation area. As I came back down the trail, I saw another large turkey running through the hitching-post area behind the parking lot.
Then I drove to campsite 66 along Hemlock Road at the top of Rising Mountain and parked there for lunch. On the way up Hemlock Road, a largish bird had flown across the road and landed in a tree nearby. I stopped and wished I had had my camera— I believe it was a red-shouldered hawk (see http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-shouldered_Hawk_dtl.html) At the campsite I was making lunch when I heard many small-bird sounds come into the trees around me—very raucous. It was a herd of goldfinches! They were at the tops of the trees and were feeding on the red buds of the trees. These were American Goldfinches and looked like this: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Goldfinch.html
There were birds in each of the plumages shown but of course it was the fantastic gold of the male in breeding plumage drew the most attention.
After lunch I drove back to Fowlers Hollow and took a walk along the stream bank to see if I could see any fish. I only saw two and the water us ultra-clear so I imagine fishing might be a little tough. I went up the bank opposite the campground which leads in five minutes or so to shelter number 1. There I read in the logbook that the write had caught two native trout and a stocked trout nearby on Saturday.
I then drove back across the mountain into Henry’s Valley and the Ant Hill Trail. I had seen it on the map and thought I’d like to take the Ant Hill trail to its intersection with the Middle Ridge Trail and see what that area looks like, i.e., if it was as nice as the section of Middle Ridge Trail I had been on yesterday. The Ant Hill trail leads past a remote cabin, crosses a beautiful stream, and then ascends the ridge. It’s a strenuous hike for the half-mile climb up the ridge but once it levels off it’s heaven. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the trail intersection and then I decided to continue out the Ant Hill Trail to its intersection with Cowpens Road and then come back and if I still felt like exploring, then I’d do the Middle Ridge Trail section. But once again the trail led me on. The section to Cowpens Road was fantastic, alternating between a narrow trail through overhanging knee-high greenery to expansive views of the just-starting-to-bud forest around me. At the road, it seemed like the Ant Hill trail should go on. The map showed the Tuscarora Trail to be only a short distance into the woods on the other side but it was paralleling the road and therefore perpendicular to the Ant Hill Trail. And a short distance to my right- about a quarter mile- Tuscarora Trial crossed the road. So I decided to see the trail crossing. There the sign said “Colonel Denning State Park, 9 miles” northbound and “Three Square Hollow Road, 2 miles” southbound. I had passed Three Square Hollow Road turnoff just before finding the trailhead for the Ant-Hill Trail so that would make a nice loop. I then noticed that another trail, the North Fork Trail would work even better – it would get me back to the van without any road-walking.
The Tuscarora Trail across the top was one of the best trails I’ve seen. There were almost no rocks, just a nice, soft carpet of leaves and needles winding through the forest. The descent was much less steep than the Ant Hill Trail and it wasn’t long till I hit the North Fork Trail. That trail was more rugged but eventually led my to a perfect area for camping and fishing along the stream, then out an old forest road to its intersection with the Ant Hill Trail and my van.
By that time it was 1700 and home beckoned. But there’s still a lot more to see.
Sunday, 16 April-
With more unexpected good weather again today I was at a bit of a loss this morning to decide what to do. I was still a little stiff from yesterday’s walk but thought I’d like to go back to the Tuscarora State Forest in Mocha Joe for a day or two. Labashi had decided she wanted to work in the yard again today so I was on my own.
I drove to the Tuscarora State Forest via Landisburg and entered at Laurel Run Road which soon turns to gravel. At the Frank Masland Natural Area sign I saw a nice little red-blazed trail leading away— the Garrett Trail. I was only going to walk it a short way to get a feel for it but it kept drawing me on. I just wanted to see what was around the next bend, then the next, and before long it was descending toward a trout stream I knew lay at the bottom of the valley. There the trail intersected with the Sheriff Trail, about a half-mile from my starting point. I turned upstream onto the Sheriff Trail which is a particularly beautiful area—no wonder it’s preserved as a Natural Area. The stream is crystal-clear and winds through hemlocks, some of them old-growth size. I ambled along for a half-mile or so until it intersected the Deer Hollow Trail. As I stood there, a sharp-shinned hawk came zooming down through the trees, crossing from right to left at high speed. Just as it reached the trail it flared right, only a foot or two above the ground, showing me the vivid white of its underside. It looked just like the hawk we had seen at Buck Lake in Florida’s Ocala National Forest and later identified as a sharp-shinned. I continued upstream, now on the North Bench Trail, thinking I should be able to make a loop out of this walk if I continued following the stream to the bridge, then I could return to the van by the forest road. I came to a ribbon marker someone had tied to a tree along the trail and I could see a line of markers leading toward the stream bank. I followed out of curiosity, wondering whether I’d find a favorite fishing hole, a stream crossing, or a good hunting spot or maybe a treasure chest. At the stream bank, I saw the reason for the ribbon: there was deer hair all about. A hunter must have shot a deer and dragged it to that point, then marked where he left it to seek assistance getting it out of that remote spot.
As I returned to the trail I realized I might be letting myself in for a longer walk than I realized. I didn’t have a map and I was only guess-timating how far it would be to the bridge. I did know that it’s a long, long uphill slog on the forest road from the bridge to the parking lot. In the end, I decided to return downstream to the Deer Hollow trail and use it as a steeper-but-shorter way back to the van.
Once back at Mocha Joe, I moved it to another parking area at the top of the hill where I knew there was another trail I wanted to try later and had a late lunch. With the warm sun streaming in it wasn’t long until I decided I needed a nap. It was wonderful to have the van doors open in the light breeze and before long I fell asleep. A half-hour-or-so later I heard a car approaching on the forest road. Actually there were two vehicles, apparently traveling together and they stopped—which seemed odd. I sat up to look and at that moment heard a little cluck right outside the rear door of the van. It was a turkey, a hen, easing along and apparently pecking tiny stones from the parking lot, perhaps as grit for its gizzard. The vehicles soon tired of watching the turkey (and I’m sure they wondered what the heck the story was with the turkey right beside the open doors of my van) and moved on. I laid back down and tried to nap a little more. But after 20 minutes or so I got up and there was the turkey again, wandering around the parking lot, pecking at everything. I had been purposefully staying out of the line of sight of the turkey or moving only when it was looking the other way. But now I stepped outside the van and walked around to where she could see me. No big deal—she just walked a little further away! For some reason Ms. Turkey wasn’t nearly as wary of humans as she should be.
I then headed out on the Middle Ridge Trail and it turned out to be a winner. The first part of the trail is two-track forest road and would make a great bicycle ride. Then the trail turned up into the woods along a deer exclosure fence until it brought me out to a jeep trail. Way ahead, I saw a much larger turkey cross, running for all it was worth. I topped out and the trail turned into beautiful rhododendron but it was getting too late—I had to start heading back to make it out before dark.
Back at the van, I drove on to Fowlers Hollow State Park. Since it was a Sunday evening I expected to be alone or nearly alone in the campground but there were four sites in use. I later learned that three of them were occupied by a group from the Harrisburg area, dads who had brought their kids fishing since Monday was a holiday for them. Cost for camping Sunday through Thursday is $12 a night and is a good deal considering that they’ve just upgraded the campground facilities and run electricity to all the campsites.
The evening was very pleasant. I just had time to make supper as it grew dark and then I sat out watching the stars come out. I realized that the state forest’s dark-sky observation area is actually quite close—probably within a half-mile as the crow flies so I should be able to see well. And that indeed was the case. Even though there were clouds occasionally, there were so many stars I had a difficult time recognizing the constellations.
Saturday, 15 April-
It was supposed to be a rainy day according to the forecast most of the week but suddenly that changed and today’s weather was fine. I decided to install a footpeg lowering kit on the Concours. These adapters move the footpegs down and forward slightly so your knees are not bent quite so sharply. The Concours is a ‘sport-touring’ motorcycle, meaning that it has characteristics of both the so-called ‘crotch-rocket’ sports bikes (it has a modified Ninja engine, for example) and also characteristics of touring bikes (a full fairing and windshield). The rider position had a little too much of the sporty forward lean and the pegs are a little high for longer-distance touring. I replaced the handlebars to provide a more upright seating position and a higher aftermarket windshield back in the summer of 2003. I’ve been OK with the footpeg position until now but that’s mostly because I don’t ride long distances. I’ve only done four 300+ mile days and my knees were talking to me toward the end of those rides. Now that I have some time available, I want to do some longer, multi-day rides, thus the change to the pegs.
The installation was supposed to be easy enough that my mother could do it (according to a set of instructions from one of the Concours Owner’s Group guys) but Mom would have had some extra work to do this time—the parts didn’t fit! I had to use a rat-tail file and my bench grinder to modify the adapters slightly so they would fit. I also had problems with the threads on the brake-lever adjuster and with the brake light switch but finally, even though Mom wasn’t there, I got it all working properly. The foot and leg positions now feel more natural and that’s a good thing.
I took the bike for a test ride to be sure the adjustments to foot position, transmission shifter, and brake lever all worked together well. Then I zoomed in to Rocky Ridge park and took a walk. This one was a long one, starting out with a 20-minute jog, then a walk to the far end of the park and back, jogging for a few minutes here and there for a total of two hours. That did me in – I could hardly put my motorcycling safety gear back on for the trip home.
That evening we watched part of the Ingmar Bergman ‘Wild Strawberries’ DVD. We started with an interview done in 1998 on Swedish television and that lasted longer than expected so we’ll do the movie another day. The interview was quite interesting—Bergman was a tortured soul for much of his life and frankly talked about being admitted to ‘a nut house’ for three weeks and how he must today (at the time of the interview) have an hour-by-hour plan for his day to avoid going crazy.
Friday, 14 April-
Today I went into Eastern Market in York to get some fresh orange juice and a nice eye-round, hopefully for a roast this weekend. Traffic was terrible—the worst I’ve seen it around the market place and it took me a few minutes to realize that it was because today is Good Friday—lots of folks are preparing for the holiday. With the fresh food along I had to go straight home but later in the day I took the mountain bike over to Pinchot State Park to play a little more. I only lasted about an hour but that was enough to get my heart rate up several times. Despite all the talk about the lack of rain, the trails had lots of mud and some big puddles so I spent more time on the campground roads. I was surprised to see how many people are out camping already but again, I suppose that’s because of the long weekend.
That evening we watched another Decalogue episode and two episodes of ‘24’.
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 12:16
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