A Wild Time!

 

Hiking the Bridge Trail in the Quehanna Wild Area

I shared an update just a couple of weeks ago, but it feels like it's been far longer than that. Moving at this slower speed than I do in my everyday life and taking so much in. Being so very present from moment to moment, makes the days feel fuller, longer. Time moves differently out here. I relish it. I don't know about you, but I frequently feel the pressure of time hurrying me along. Not out here. We and time seem to tick along at the same speed, at least when we're in the woods. When we hit civilization again, whoosh! We're moving at high-speed again! Even if the high-speed internet and cell signal is slim to none out here. Alas, the fact that many of my photos have not yet downloaded to the cloud, and I've got just a tiny window of time in my warm and cozy cabin at the state park, I'll have to do my best to succinctly share with you all that we've experienced.

On the East Cross Connector Trail - Quehanna Wild Area - appreciating scarlet blueberry shrubs

For roughly one week we explored the Quehanna Wild Area. This area has an interesting history. In the 1950's it was owned, and fully fenced-in, by the Curtiss Wright Company for the development and testing of nuclear-powered jet engines (see The Botanical Hiker: The Quehanna Trail: An Eastern Loop and The Botanical Hiker: The Quehanna Trail: A Western Loop for more background). There was indeed a nuclear reactor here and numerous bunkers that housed, I would presume rather toxic and deadly materials. Although, the wild area is now largely deemed safe (there are still some spots that are off-limits) the paved roads, like Reactor Road, remain and the prominent Quehanna Highway which bisects the area remain. There is something post-apocalyptic about this land. If one looks back even farther, in the 1800's leading into the turn of the century, this area, like many others, was devastated by the logging industry. Evidence can be found throughout the forests, where few old growth trees remain and, I would presume in the vast meadows that cover portions of the wild area. However today, although the scars persist, it is a wild area under restoration, gradually healing from these wounds. I will admit, I was skeptical of the Quehanna Wild Area when I first learned of it. But this is a land that can now benefit from the presence of people, for that land that people interact and love, they will protect. I have fallen in love with the Quehanna Wild Area. 

Cotton-grass - a common sight in the marshier meadows. You can see thousands of these tufts mingling with scarlet blueberry shrubs and golden ferns and although not as colorful, they make me feel like Dorothy in a field of poppies.

Blueberry and huckleberry bushes dominate. Wintergreen and dewberry carpet the earth. Golden grasses, some of them cottony tufted, cushion your steps. The trail weaves and winds and rarely carries you too steeply for too long. Giant boulders sit sentinel in meadow and forest, ever surprising you with their presence. Creeks run crystal over equally large rocks. Sturdy wooden bridges cross most, though not all, of these hearty waterways. 

Saint John's Wort (I assume Marsh Saint John's Wort, though I have yet to get a definite ID)

I encourage you to explore the Quehanna Wild Area. You will have many of the trails to yourself for days at a time. There is a 70+ mile loop that surrounds the wild area and the East Cross Connector Trail conveniently allows you to divide this loop in two. This is what I did last year. However, this year, armed with a map and notes of the PAW Mega Loop, I had a good idea of where some of the most spectacular side trails might be. These, too, interconnect. So, it was easy to make my own variations on the loops, while also exploring some trails I knew nothing at all about. These were largely "red-dot" or multi-use trails, which were easy-walking, level, and beautiful. Among some of the trails I appreciated were: Bridge Trail, Kune's Camp Trail, Crawford Vista Trail, Riddle Road, and the Old Sinnemahoning Trail.

Dawn on the Allegheny Front Trail

In the Quehanna Wild Area, our miles began to lengthen. Amos had his trail legs, and I did too. I was eager to next hit a trail that we knew well. One that we could make miles on and simply enjoy the feeling of physicality, while also soaking in a variety of landscapes. We headed to the Allegheny Front Trail, also in Moshannon State Forest. The AFT is a 42-mile loop that encircles Black Moshannon State Park at its heart. This is a trail that is ever-changing.

One of several vistas along the Allegheny Front Trail

We began at the eastern end of Rattlesnake Pike and headed clockwise, taking four and a half days to complete the loop. Our hike began with sweeping vistas, one after another. Layers of mountains stretched into the distance, and I wondered how many we'd hiked before. The colors along this trail really popped, and I felt as if we were literally walking into beauty.

In a red pine plantation

At camp in the pine plantation along Six Mile Run

Our second day, we walked young woods through many red maple and sassafras saplings, witch hazel was abundant. Unfortunately, many oaks through this area were heavily impacted by spongey moths and so there are far fewer mature trees than there once were. We walked the sometimes rocky shore of the glistening Six Mile Run. This was also the day that we began to get intimate with the rhododendrons. Our trail fluctuated between rocky edge, hemlock glen, and rhodo tunnel. But that was just the start.

Where's Amos?

The next couple of days carried us through tunnels of rhododendron. They grasped at us from every angle. Last year I lost a pair of sunglasses in here. This year, I thought it might be my hat. But we made it through unscathed and believe it or not, I did revel in the musty aroma of these rhodo thickets - wet soil and earth and thick leathery leaves. The scent is intoxicating. We also climbed up rocky steep path, over old forest road, and along the edge of Moshannon Creek, or what the locals call Red Mo'. This creek that's as wide as a river has been contaminated from old mine run-off and now runs orange, void of most life. Despite its scars, like the Quehanna, it too, was still beautiful. And a harsh reminder of what happens when we merely extract from rather than cooperate with the natural world. However, as I camped alongside Red Mo' that night, we were visited by both screech owl and porcupine. So, the animals that live in relationship with it, have surely adapted. That day we also walked a labryinth of rhododendron along the clear-running Black Moshannon Creek and Benner Run.

Red Mo' (Moshannon Creek)

Our last day we strode through breath-taking mature hardwood forest. Large oaks and maple soared for the sky, with canopies of gold and ruby-red. The trail wound like a ribbon around the most enormous bases and danced over creeks. Our temps rose from below freezing at night to nearly seventy during the day. We practically skipped down the trail. In fact, we did run our last few steps. 

We ran because we could. Because of the thrill of six strong legs and the will to do those things that sometimes scare us. We slept through the first frost of the year on the Quehanna Trail and on the Allegheny Front we set out knowing that heavy rain was on the horizon. Throughout this hike, I have been vigilant of Amos' paws and newly mended leg. This journey has not been without its challenges. But we have faced each one, adapted, and grown stronger with every step and every mile. Amos Thunderfoot is strong as can be and I'm one happy human to have this fella by my side. The wild has a way of stripping away what doesn't serve you, strengthening what does, bringing you into the now, and clarifying all the gifts you receive every single day. And what a feeling that is. Sometimes it takes a long hike.

With the biggest Swamp White Oak recorded in Pennsylvania (more than 18' in circumference)

 

And now we are reaching the close of our PAWventure. We are enjoying a little luxury at Bald Eagle State Forest and tomorrow plan to revisit some miles on the Mid State Trail and connecting trails along the Central Trails Shared Trails System. Looking forward to this last leg of our journey!