I dreamed of Reese Witherspoon - Pennsylvania Grand Canyon 10/5-7/12 P1
Who: Perrito & SilvrSurfr
What: 30-Mile Hike (give or take a mile or two)
When: October 5-7, 2012
Where: Pennsylvania Grand Canyon (Pine Creek Gorge), West Rim Trail
Why: Hiking and Hammock Camping!
Many thanks to Perrito for researching this awesome trip. He arranged everything: shuttle, hanging spots, mileage, etc. All I had to do was pack, then take a train to Newark Penn Station to hitch a ride with Perrito.
The trip started poorly for me. I left my 26-year-old Boston Red Sox hat on the train. When I first bought the hat, I promised myself I'd wear it till the Red Sox won a World Series. Well, I wore it through two World Series wins, 2004 & 2007, then decided to buy a new Red Sox hat: they haven't won squat since. So after the teams' horrific season this year, I brought the tried & true lucky hat out of retirement, only to lose it on a train in Jersey. This is proof that Jersey sucks - up lucky hats.
We arrived at Pine Creek Outfitters just before they closed at 4 pm. I bought a new hat, & we dropped Perrito's car off at the northern trailhead in Ansonia. The shuttle took us 35 miles south to the Bohen Run trailhead. Per 2Q's suggestion, we hiked 1.5 miles to a campsite just before the Bohen Run trail ascends Pine Creek Gorge and meets up with the West Rim trail. The campsite was gorgeous, directly on Pine Creek next to a waterfall. We brought sandwiches from Newark for dinner. I slept mighty fine next to that waterfall.
It was raining when we woke, but stopped before we started hiking. Nevertheless, the undergrowth along the trail was soaked & my legs were soon drenched. Then the water got into my Merrill hiking boots. I had never hiked with water in my shoes (very squishy), & we had twelve miles to go to our next campsite. I started getting hypothermic, so we stopped & I took off the shoes & put on my down booties to warm my feet up. I put on dry socks & felt much better. The wind kicked up, the sun came out, and my pants dried out too. The mushrooms were out in full force - I saw a lot of varieties, none of which I can identify.
I love Wasa crispbreads. They're about 3/8" thick and don't crumble like crackers in my pack. I put peanut butter, tuna or whatever on them.Nevertheless, I have a Reflectix cozy just for my crispbreads so they don't get crushed.
We had Hawk Vittles Buffalo Pasta for our main course, & crashed right after dinner. The low was 38 degrees. I had an erotic dream about Reese Witherspoon, and in the background it sounded like somebody was whistling an a cappela version of the chorus of Devo's Uncontrollable Urge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BmxN3E548I). It seemed strangely appropriate: an erotic dream about Reese Witherspoon with a Devo soundtrack.
I gradually realized that the soundtrack was a hooting competition among quite a few barred (aka hoot) owls. At first, I could hear them down in the gorge, but then they came right in our campsite. It distracted me from Reese Witherspoon but we were still able to consummate our love, even with all the hooting in the background. Reese, you're the best.
After the hoot owls woke us up, we ate and Perrito got a head start while I finished packing. He got a 10 or 15 min. headstart on me, but I finally caught up to him 2.5 hours later. The forecast called for rain around 4 pm, so we picked up the pace trying to beat the precipitation. We almost did, but it started raining the last half mile. A couple of miles from the end, Perrito and I heard crashing & thought we saw a bear. Now I'm not so sure. Of course, my camera batteries died while filming the supposed bear.
We got to the car and went to a restaurant for cheeseburgers, beer, and some NFL football on the telly; a great way to end a 16-mile day! It rained the whole trip back to Newark, but Perrito got me to Newark Penn Station with two minutes to spare before the 10:25 pm train back to the Jersey Shore. A taxi ride got me home at midnight.
A lot has changed in the year since Perrito and I did the Fall MAHHA 2011 pre-hike together. Back then, I was out of shape, and sporting a 26-year-old North Face 90-liter pack that I loaded to 60 lbs. I had a Grand Trunk Funky Forest tarp with a ridgeline of Home Depot nylon rope. I used a Hennessy Expedition with blue ccf pad and 4 lb. synthetic sleeping bag. My cook kit was a 2 lb. Swedish Army Trangia mess kit. I carried a machete. I even packed a full-size pillow from my bedroom. Many dollars later, and a lot of research on this forum, and I'm much lighter and in better trail shape.
Again, many thanks to Perrito for planning this trip, and for pounding out so many miles even though he wasn't in hiking shape for it. It was strange having someone tell me I was in better hiking shape than them - I don't hear that often.
A big shout-out to Brian at Buttinasling. He got a Weight Weenie Micro to me in time for my trip. Though I'm a big fan of my WWM double-layer, I slept great in the single-layer WWM. At half the weight of my BIAS DL, it might be my go-to hammock from now on.
10-08-2012, 23:20
Gresh
Glad you hat a great time. Thanks for sharing!
10-09-2012, 01:21
Bruciehi5
Hi there SilvrSurfr, good to hear you’re living large! lol That camp site was nice, even with the rain. Very inviting looking gorge, it would be great to walk along the river! Thanks for the video, it was fun!
10-09-2012, 08:11
Ramblinrev
Needless to say. I didn't make it for
Saturday night. Saturday afternoon I discovered that _this_ was Columbus day weekend. And all this time I thought it was next weekend. Oh well. Glad all went well.
10-09-2012, 08:18
Ramblinrev
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruciehi5
it would be great to walk along the river!
I've been through the gorge every way possible. Walking the rail trail is by far the worst of the lot. The surface is crushed limestone and very hard on the feet. In the bright sun there is _no_shade for most of the day. That limestone is like a bake oven, bouncing the sun's rays up into your face. On a bicycle it is more than tolerable. On foot.... never again. The West Rim Trail gives you the best experience unless you want to go down in a rubber raft. That's fun, but if you want _good_ white water there are better choices. I guess what I'm saying is... don't travel from Oz to walk along Pine Creek. To do the West Rim.... yeah. But not the rail trail.
10-09-2012, 08:42
GregB
What a beautiful place!
I've only been back east a few times but I'm always impressed at how easy it is to get out of town and into the woods. I'm guessing that this time of year is probably the best time. Cool weather and no bugs.
When I see bugs like that in the water I always think "TROUT!" How's the fishing there?
10-09-2012, 11:01
mbiraman
Nice looking area. Thanks
10-09-2012, 11:34
SilvrSurfr
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregB
What a beautiful place!
I've only been back east a few times but I'm always impressed at how easy it is to get out of town and into the woods. I'm guessing that this time of year is probably the best time. Cool weather and no bugs.
When I see bugs like that in the water I always think "TROUT!" How's the fishing there?
I didn't bring the pole, but looks like prime trout fishing environment.
10-09-2012, 13:55
Ramblinrev
Pine Creek has quite a reputation as a Trout Stream. It is stocked in the spring, I know that. Very popular trout area.
10-09-2012, 14:02
Chris K
Looks like an awesome adventure.
Sorry you lost your Red Sox hat. I saw it in another of your videos (DWG?) and it looked a bit outdated, but I know it had sentimental value.
10-09-2012, 14:12
Knotty
Reese Witherspoon and Devo dreams? TMI! :laugh:
Glad you had a nice trip. This hike is certainly on my to do list. Never thought about getting there by train though.
10-09-2012, 14:35
WV
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr
Who: Perrito & SilvrSurfr
A lot has changed in the year since Perrito and I did the Fall MAHHA 2011 pre-hike together.
You bet! Black Wolf has morphed into Perrito. Didn't Bear Chaser and I help you guys set up after dark in the rain? Or was that some other me. I forget.:confused:
10-09-2012, 15:03
SilvrSurfr
Quote:
Originally Posted by WV
You bet! Black Wolf has morphed into Perrito. Didn't Bear Chaser and I help you guys set up after dark in the rain? Or was that some other me. I forget.:confused:
I know you and Bear Chaser helped me - I certainly didn't know what I was doing back then.
10-09-2012, 21:13
perrito
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knotty
Reese Witherspoon and Devo dreams? TMI! :laugh:
Glad you had a nice trip. This hike is certainly on my to do list. Never thought about getting there by train though.
We didn't get there by train - SilvrSurfr took a train to Newark and we drove to PA from there.
It's definitely a pretty area. There were plenty of camping spots along the trail. 2Question's suggestion of hanging in the gorge at the base of the Bohen Run was an awesome one. I just wish we could have gotten there earlier and had time to make a fire. The night sky was nice and dark too.
The one thing neither of us thought to take pictures of is the manual water pump at the Bradley Wales picnic area. We worked our butts off after hiking 12 wet miles to fill our water bottles. It would have made a funny video clip. :)
Much of the trail was covered with fallen leaves. It was definitely a chore to stay on the path at times. There weren't a whole lot of ups and downs, but for a guy like me who hasn't been able to do big miles in a while, the hills kicked my butt while SilvrSurfr chugged along smoking a cigarette. Kind of annoying, really. ;)
After 7+ hours of hard hiking on the last day, we had a nice burger and a beer while watching some football - always a post hike treat.
SilvrSurfr is a fun guy to hike with - a quick wit and a good story teller.
10-09-2012, 21:50
SilvrSurfr
I will never forget those owls coming into our campsite. It kind of reminded me of Dueling Banjos, but I think there were more than two owls doing call and response. The owl experience beat out my previous favorite wilderness moment when hanging with Pro Vagabond, coyotes descended upon our campsite in the Pine Barrens at Lower Forge, howling as they approached. Owls are much more musical than coyotes.
09-03-2013, 18:19
Hevyhanger
i live in Wellsboro. my wife and I just did an 8 mile loop, west rim southern terminus to bohan down to pine creek. camped next to pine creek and then back to bohans terminus, down the bike trail back to west rim terminus, loved hanging in the hammock next to pine creek, enjoyed your trip report.
09-03-2013, 21:35
ssdivot
I very much enjoy your reports and videos. Reese Witherspoon and Devo LOL.
I like seeing people's experiences in the rain as I've not done much hiking in bad weather. Thanks for sharing!
09-04-2013, 12:49
SilvrSurfr
I don't shy away from hiking in rain, but I can't say I've ever enjoyed it either. I still haven't decided what's worse: getting soaked by the rain, or sweating like a pig in the rain suit.
09-04-2013, 13:56
canoebie
I missed this earlier, so it was a fun read. I have been tempted to paddle that area. I have seen several good reports. Oh, btw SS, pigs don't sweat. That is why they enjoy rolling in the mud to cool off. :lol:
09-04-2013, 14:59
SilvrSurfr
I stand corrected!
09-05-2013, 01:10
yooz85
Quote:
Originally Posted by canoebie
I missed this earlier, so it was a fun read. I have been tempted to paddle that area. I have seen several good reports. Oh, btw SS, pigs don't sweat. That is why they enjoy rolling in the mud to cool off. :lol:
From what i understand paddling or biking this area is very nice and Pine Creek outfitters does shuttles for both. But from experience this trail is beautiful, i watched this video before my hike this past spring for inspiration!
10-24-2013, 17:19
perrito
Re: I dreamed of Reese Witherspoon - Pennsylvania Grand Canyon 10/5-7/12 P1
Well that title is bound to drag me in for a read and view!
SS:
Quote:
I had an erotic dream about Reese Witherspoon, and in the background it sounded like somebody was whistling an a cappela version of the chorus of Devo's Uncontrollable Urge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BmxN3E548I). It seemed strangely appropriate: an erotic dream about Reese Witherspoon with a Devo soundtrack.
I gradually realized that the soundtrack was a hooting competition among quite a few barred (aka hoot) owls. At first, I could hear them down in the gorge, but then they came right in our campsite. It distracted me from Reese Witherspoon but we were still able to consummate our love, even with all the hooting in the background. Reese, you're the best.
Well played indeed, Sir! Well played indeed! No hoot owks are going to interfere with the love you and Reese share! And yes, she is the best!
Quote:
A lot has changed in the year since Perrito and I did the Fall MAHHA 2011 pre-hike together. Back then, I was out of shape, and sporting a 26-year-old North Face 90-liter pack that I loaded to 60 lbs. I had a Grand Trunk Funky Forest tarp with a ridgeline of Home Depot nylon rope. I used a Hennessy Expedition with blue ccf pad and 4 lb. synthetic sleeping bag. My cook kit was a 2 lb. Swedish Army Trangia mess kit. I carried a machete. I even packed a full-size pillow from my bedroom. Many dollars later, and a lot of research on this forum, and I'm much lighter and in better trail shape.
That is about as big of a transformation as you will ever read about! Great report!
10-24-2013, 18:51
SilvrSurfr
I saw that magazine in the store yesterday. "She didn't look that sexy in my dream," I thought. So I went home, took a nap and dreamed of her again!
