Jen and I had ordered up a particularly hectic October, moving at the beginning of the month and going to Nepal at the end; I told people I should be receiving extra points for backpacking just three or four days after moving everything I own from one apartment to another. It was a minor miracle that I could find my gear at all and, of course, a couple of small missing items plagued me all weekend. Nevertheless, I drove out from DC Thursday evening (10/9), planning to meet Chet and Haigang at Cowanesque Lake early Friday morning. After the fourth march, where the set up took too much of the day Friday, I was determined not to repeat that mistake. I slept in a hotel Thursday night. I suppose this helped.
At any rate, we three reached the New York line mid-morning on Friday (10/10). We left two cars at Cowanesque, dropped off the cooler at Scenic View, and reached Logan and Brian at Tannery Hill Road by noon. Mike was running behind: I wrote a message for him in the dust on Chet’s SUV.
We had beautiful weather as we walked north through a forested section west of PA 287. I chuckled at the signs warning you to watch your step–this is true of the entire MST, right? Then, after a short road walk, we all rendez-vous’d at Duncan Tavern in Antrim. Mike caught us here and we six (with Mocha) all enjoyed beer on the deck. Truly, there should be more taverns like this on the trail. People were curious to chat with us and talk about our gear.
We headed out in the late afternoon. After a little road walking, we reached Tioga State Forest and enjoyed great hiking in the dusk. Our headlamps had not been on for very long when we reached Sand Run Falls, which I had billed as one of the best campsites on the east coast. People were not disappointed as they lowered themselves down into the bowl. It was a cold night (high 30s) and we were impressed by how long Chet stayed in shorts and a t-shirt. B~~~ had to fight off a raccoon during the night.
Saturday, 10/11, we had a full day ahead of us that started off with easy walking through the state forest. Again, the weather stayed cool and pleasant, which was good, as we had a good amount of road walking to do. We were obeying the rules about staying off private land in a few areas due to the onset of hunting season, which meant we had quite long stretches of road to walk. Fine by me. As I believe people know, the area around US 6 was really overgrown. I believe all six of us turned back from a brambly, impassible section and just went around it. More road walking led us to Hills Creek State Park.
I’m not going to dwell on this, but after maybe 1200 kilometers of walking on the MST, I was probably most bothered by the comportment of the rangers at Hills Creek State Park. As anyone who’s hiked this section knows, there’s not a superabundance of legal and reasonable campsites. I’ve slept at Hills Creek twice. The first time, we set up in the treeline in the south area of the park (a ranger came by, but just told us to leave in the morning, which we were going to do anyway). The second time, I reserved the group area for us, which was fantastic. I had tried to reserve the site for us this time, but I couldn’t get the system to work. I figured I’d just walk into the office when I got there and we’d sort it out, right? Well, when I got there, they essentially told me that we couldn’t stay there because their systems were down. The ranger unhelpfully suggested that we could go to the next legal campsite, seven miles north. Now, it just so happens that I was with five fit and fast backpackers who could totally turn a 18-mile day into a 25-mile day, starting at 3pm, but why were we obliged to do that when we’re literally standing in a place marked as a campsite? To add insult to injury, as we walked by dozens of places where we could comfortably camp, many of them actually had people camped in them (I guess the explanation is that they reserved their spots before the system went down?). Anyway, annoyed by this contretemps, we found a place and battened down for the rain that would pour all night.
I just want to conclude by adding that there should be some common sense in place for primitive campers: for instance a provision that people hiking the MST can always camp in this field and we’ll unlock the bathrooms for them. Contrast the unfriendly attitude of the rangers with the people at Scenic View, which is private. “Can we camp here?” I asked. “Sure,” they replied. “That’ll be $30.”
Anyway, the trail goes on. Sunday, 10/12, dawned clear and we had a beautiful hike through State Game Land 37 to Hammond Lake. After that, we had a lot of road to walk to reach Scenic View, where the cooler awaited us. The former owner drove up in his cart and regaled us with colorful stories from his past, including tales of a nearby gentlemen’s club he used to own and a particular sexual act performed for just $8 and half a candy bar. Mike told him he should write a book!
Monday, 10/13, would be the last day of this particular section-hike. And it was going to be a wet one. We set out before dawn in a cloud of rain and essentially were soaked well before we reached Cowanesque Lake. We hiked the long detour around the lake and then Haigang (with Mocha), Mike, and Chet got the cars. Logan, Brian, and I pushed over the last bit of road to the New York border.
That was that. Congratulations to Logan for his first completion of the MST! And congratulations to me and Brian for our second!
It’s been a great project for the last calendar year–I formally declare myself fit for Nepal. Thanks for the expert group of DCUL backpackers who kept me company on all the sections–y’all are amazing!
We enjoyed lunch at the Manor Hotel in Slate Run (where we very much appreciated the beer and sandwiches) and then it was all about the driving. It rained the whole way back and I don’t believe I was home before 7pm.
The total distance covered was about 104 km or 65 miles.
DC UL Backpacking 
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