Lake Marburg boating; Cove Mountain hike; Route 6 eastern half; Lackawanna, Lyman Run, Patterson, and Prouty Place State Parks; “Mrs. Henderson Presents”

(posted from home)

(this post covers 27 April- 7 May, 2007)

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Monday, 7 May –

I woke around 0400 this morning and noticed the temperature had fallen to 27 degrees. So this is Spring in the mountains, eh? My top cover (the down sleeping bag opened as a quilt) had slipped off and I had gotten a little chilled so I dug out Labashi’s big zero-degree bag and was soon warmed up again and fell back into a wonderfully-heavy sleep.
I arose at 0715 to find the windows frosted over so I fired up the Buddy heater to start the morning. As I dressed and had breakfast I started up the van and its defroster to clear the windshield. By 0800 I was back on the road and slowly climbing up out of the quiet little valley surrounding Prouty Place and back up to Route 44.
I pointed my way toward home and turned on the Ipod to listen to more podcasts of ‘This American Life’, these from the February-March timeframe. Highly recommended listening.
Back home I found Labashi happily working away on her garden stuff. I cleared out the van and later we drove up to the Hillside restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we watched ‘Mrs. Henderson Presents’ with Judy Dench and Bob Hoskins. It tells the “based on true events” story of The Windmill Theatre in London during World War 2. Mrs. Henderson was a 70-something widow who decided it wouldn’t be a bad thing to own a theatre and to have some tasteful on-stage nudity to perk up the boys’ spirits during wartime. It made for a surprisingly good flick.

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Sunday, 6 May –

This morning I woke to a 37-degree morning and that wouldn’t have been bad on a nice sunny day but it was very windy. After breakfast I headed out and only made a few brief stops at the overlooks. The wind was blowing hard up out of the canyon so it didn’t make sense to stay long. I then drove back the forest road (Colton Road), thinking I’d start working my way south through the state forest to Leesonia. But I soon came upon an inviting trail. It was the Ice Break Trail and since I was now out of the wind and the sun was well up, the trail beckoned. I took the trail to its intersection with the West Rim Trail right along the canyon at Ice Break Vista, a very pretty little overlook. I sat there in the sun for a few minutes then headed back to the van. I pulled out the maps and decided I’d still like to work my way down to Little Pine State Park but I’d go see Lyman Run, Patterson and Prouty Place State Parks along the way. I re-traced the forest road back a bit to connect to Thompson Road to reach Route 6 and Galeton for the turnoff to Lyman Run State Park. I was unfamiliar with this one but since it had camping and fishing, I’d take a look. But there I found both campgrounds closed for construction and the lake completely drained. I spoke to some local guys who told me the old dam there had apparently been unsafe and it was torn down ten years ago and had just been re-built. The park is supposed to be back to normal operations by the end of summer. I stopped at the picnic grounds and walked back into the upper campground, also under construction. This will be a very nice park when completed. I then followed the Lyman Run creek up past the dam and into the State Forest. This very pretty and clear stream is part of the state’s Wild Brook Trout Enhancement Project and went on for miles. Here’s info about the project from the PA Bulletin: “Historically, brook trout are the only stream dwelling trout native to this Commonwealth's streams. Currently, special regulations for wild trout are typically applied to waters that support wild brown trout or a combination of wild brook and brown populations. Because brook trout dominate in smaller headwater reaches and tributary streams and there typically is a transition to brown trout downstream areas, very few waters under special regulations are dominated by wild brook trout. Based on discussions with various wild trout angling groups and feedback from the recent Trout Summit, there is interest in developing regulations directed at enhancing the abundance of larger, older wild brook trout in this Commonwealth's streams. The general concept is to reduce the effect of harvest of brook trout on the number of older and larger brook trout. The approach being sought is to apply regulations on a watershed basin level (main stem and tributaries) or a portion of the basin to provide a larger area for this management strategy to provide increased protection for larger brook trout in selected streams.” The resulting rules made this stream a year-round catch-and-release-only stream for brookies. Very cool!
The rough forest road eventually climbed out of the valley and took me across a gas pipeline to Route 44 just north of Patterson State Park. This one is a very small state park, really just a grassy area along the road and the camping spots are primitive and, unfortunately, not very level. An iron ranger is there for your payment of $10 per night Sun-Thursday and $12 Friday and Saturday. Probably the best part about this little park is it’s on the Susquehannock Trail System (STS). I pulled in to pick up a park brochure at the lone picnic pavilion and as I walked back to the van I noticed my left-rear tire was low… very low. I quickly pulled ahead to a flat spot along the park driveway where I could change a tire if needed and by that time it was almost down to the rim. I suspect I hit something sharp either in the park driveway or very shortly before, perhaps on the rocky forest road but I could not see any damage to the tire. I was very fortunate to have checked the spare just a few weeks ago. I had found it empty so had taken it in for a just-in-case repair--- and now I needed it! The change didn’t take long and I was soon back on the road and headed down yet another dirt forest road. Some five miles in I found Prouty Place State Park which is only a five-acre grassy area along a stream with a few fire-rings. I walked along the stream looking for fish and then looked for any trails leading off into the woods. I found an old forest road and took a short walk back in there but decided I’d wait for the wind to subside later in the day for that. Back at the van I read some more of ‘The Mangrove Coast’ and even napped a bit. By 1700 I was ready for a walk in the nice evening light. I walked back to the old overgrown road I had seen earlier but then noticed there was a blue trail blaze nearby. I followed it back into the pines and there saw an ‘STS’ above the blaze. This was apparently a side-trail which connected Prouty Place with the 85-mile-long Susquennock Trail System. I had recently read that the STS is one of Pennsylvania’s most rugged trails so my curiosity led me further. In about a quarter-mile I found the STS and a sign pointing south to Cross Fork and north to Denton Hill. I turned south and soon found myself struggling up steep trail. But the mountain top didn’t look far away and I was curious to see the trail up there so I continued. The climb up took me a little over a half-hour but was well worth it. This is the PA Wilds all right--- big trees, crystal-clear mountain brooks and nice long views. At the top I found an open area which may lead off to a road. It would have been a nice camping spot here in one of the East Coast’s top Dark Skies areas. I re-traced my steps back to the blue-blazed connector trail, marveling at the views and taking my time. Along the connector trail I was momentarily startled by a timberdoodle (a woodcock). I was crossing a seep area and trying to keep my feet dry when it exploded from a tiny hiding spot on the ground just a foot or so in front of me. It made its distinctive flapping and wing-whistling sounds as it zoomed off to my left and away.
Back at the van I made some Spanish rice for supper and then read a little more until dark. I poked my head out a time or two to see the stars but I was too engrossed in the book (and too comfortable) to sit out. The stars were magnificent, though… diamonds on an inky-black curtain.

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Saturday, 5 May-

Today I headed west from my overnight stay at Lackawanna State Park (north of Scranton). The overnight temperature had dropped to 35 degrees in the van but I was very comfy. I have a down sleeping bag which zips open to become a quilt and temps have to fall into the twenties for me to need to zip it into a sleeping bag form. If it gets below that, I can switch to using Labashi’s zero-degree bag as a quilt and I’ve yet to need to zip that one into a sleeping bag.
I stopped at a nice little coffee shop on Route 6 for a bagel and mocha and browsed the local paper to start this pretty day. The trees haven’t yet ‘popped’ here like they have down home so the mountains are still in their very-VERY-early-Spring look--- just a few buds in the trees--- but it’s to be in the mid-Sixties today and into the Seventies tomorrow.
I drove across Route 6 as far as Towanda and then buzzed up 220 to Sayre on the New York line, just to see what’s there and to see the upper reaches of the Susquehanna in PA.
Once back on Route 6 I drove on through to Mansfield and realized I’ve completed the Route 6 journey—now what? I decided to go on to the Grand Canyon of PA since last Fall I had been there on a cloudy and drizzly day and had barely been able to see into the canyon. Also, the campground at Colton Point had been closed for the season so I had taken a short walk on a prepared trail nearby as it was getting dark and then had driven on to Mansfield to stay in the Wal-mart parking lot. Surely I could do better!
Today the campground was open so I parked the van by 1530, took a short break, and then planned a hike along the West Rim Trail. I walked back the forest road by the campground to its intersection with the West Rim Trail and took that to the Barber Point Trail and back, a nice little jaunt of a little over two hours. On the way back I met a guy who was doing the entire West Rim Trail (30 miles) in one day; he had three miles to go and seemed to be doing very well.
Back at camp I made supper and then blogged a bit before retiring to read for an hour or so before sleeping.

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Friday, 4 May –

Today I had to get back on the road for a few days. The weather is too nice to waste sitting around home. I decided I’d like to finish the Route 6 trip I started last Fall and did from the Ohio line eastward. But instead of driving up to Route 6 above World’s End State Park where I left off, I drove to the eastern end of Route 6 at Matamoras and will drive it Westbound to the middle—or maybe a little further.
I spent the day at the wheel listening to the excellent podcasts of Ira Glass on “This American Life”. I don’t know if I was just more ready for stories than I usually am or what but every one of them was a winner today. I also listened to some old radio podcasts and thoroughly enjoyed a Suspense Theater production from the mid-Fifties.
I drove westward as far as Tunkhannock. I then decided I’d prefer to spend the night at a state park rather than at a Wal-mart so I can take a walk and maybe do a little fishing. I drove to Lackawanna State Park and set up camp by 1700 and then went for a walk and jog. I walked along the lake to stretch a bit and then jogged for an hour, much of it uphill and extra-slow (there are lots of hills around here!). I then blogged for a few hours in Mocha Joe before calling it a night and turning in to start my next Randy Wayne White book, ‘The Mangrove Coast’.

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Thursday, 3 May –

Today I trailed the boat back to my brother’s house to drop it off to him for the stretch of good weather coming up. I’ve had it for a few weeks and have had some wonderful weather but it’s his turn now.
That evening we watched Survivor—a bit of a ho-hum episode. I also finished my latest read, ‘Shark River’ by Randy Wayne White. I first started reading Mr. White’s work in Outside Magazine years ago. I picked up his current novel while on the road in Florida this year and mentioned it to our friends in St. Pete, who lent me a handful of his books to read. They’re great light reading, particularly if you’ve spent any time in South Florida and love the area.

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Wednesday, 2 May –

This morning we had some extra-dry air come through so I mowed the lawn right after breakfast this morning and didn’t have to worry about wet grass jamming things up or leaving clumps all over the yard. Later in the day I made a run up to Big Bee Boats to pick up a seat bracket and touch-up paint for the boat. It turns out our Lund fishing boat was actually subbed to Lowe Boats. That has turned out to be good news and explains a few things. I couldn’t understand why my Lund dealer didn’t seem to know much about the boat and even the Lund factory seemed helpless. But since Lowe makes a twin-sister boat I was able to get the accessories I had been looking for and now understand what was going on.

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Tuesday, 1 May –

Today I had to go to the periodontist for a check on last-week’s surgery but that only took a few minutes. I then rode over to the local Starbucks for a coffee and paper. That afternoon I cleaned up the Concours and washed Mocha Joe. Ol’ Joe has some pretty deep scratches from his adventures in South Florida this year but he’s doing fine.

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Monday, 30 April –

I was going to take it easy today but later in the afternoon I rode the Concours down to Rocky Ridge Park for a little stretch-the-legs jog. I thought I’d start out slow-jogging and then walk if I felt any pain or stiffness from yesterday but the pain never came so I finished the hour-and-forty-minute time as a jog… a very slow jog but I was happy to be able to hang in.

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Sunday, 29 April –

Today I was ready for a strenuous hike. I rode the Concours up to Duncannon and took the Appalachian Trail up to Hawk Rock and then on Cove Mountain Shelter by noon. There I met three hikers, two of them a dayhiking couple from the Mountain Club of Maryland which maintains several PA shelters and the other a thru-hiker calling himself ‘Leader of the Pack’. The MCM couple told us interesting stories about building the shelter. LOTP was a bit silly looking, wearing a fuzzy-gray wolf’s head for a joke. But it’s good to see he has a sense of humor—he’s going to need it. He was northbound and is doing the trail as a “flip-flop”. He had left from Harper’s Ferry, WV, and was headed for Maine. Once there, he’ll take a bus or get a ride to either Harper’s Ferry to do the second half south-bound or go on down to Georgia and do it northbound.
After the shelter I continued AT-southbound to a blue-blazed trail near Halfway Rock and took it down to an old forest road at the foot of the mountain for the walk back out to the bike, a total of about 8 and a half miles. That was plenty for today.

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Saturday, 28 April –

Today I took the fishing boat to Lake Marburg (Codorus State Park) to log some more engine break-in time. I spent an hour varying speed in the 50-80 per cent range with occasional bursts of up to five minutes at 95-100 per cent throttle. Today was a windier day and I found I could only hit 19 mph into the wind but could hit 22 mph downwind at top rpms. I also figured out how the boat would lie to the wind, at least to today’s wind of 13-15 knots, enough to start small whitecaps. I powered into the wind at several bow angles and then shut down to observe how the boat swings, I saw it very quickly falls off (away from) the wind. The bow swings left or right and lies sideways to the wind (and therefore more subject to the bouncing of the waves) for a bit, but then the bow swings on through, finally stabilizing with the wind coming over the stern quarter. If we look at it as a clock with dead-ahead into the wind being noon, then if the boat falls off to starboard it lies a bit at 0300, then finally stabilizes (quits turning) between 0400 and 0500 (and never points dead downwind). If it initially falls off to port, then it lies in the trough of a few waves at 2100 before stabilizing between 1900 and 2000, again never making it around to the point where the wind comes from dead-astern.
After a good hour of break-in I found a protected cove and did a little fishing for a half-hour or so, then headed back since rain was threatening. As I tied down the boat onto its trailer a light rain started.
That evening we watched ‘Dances with Wolves’ and ‘Open Range’ on the movie-classics channel. We had seen some of the ‘Dances with Wolves’ scenery in the Black Hills of South Dakota last summer and ‘Open Range’ was shot in the Canadian Rockies foothills near Calgary, another of our favorite areas on last summer’s trip out West.

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Friday, 27 April –

I spent most of today on the web reading various news sites, shooting and motorcycle forums and surfing the web for info for my upcoming trips this summer and next winter. I also rode the Concours in to the Eastern Farmer’s Market for some fresh orange juice and had an interesting conversation with the orange-juice guy about Florida. He’s also a fan of the Florida agricultural interior, particularly the area around Lake Wales.