McKee80
Member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
- Messages
- 236
It's been a long winter over here and life has been hectic, so it was a late start to backpacking season for me. This is just a short one nighter to try out some new stuff and just get out there. We hiked the Rimrock/Morrison trail loop in Allegheny National Forest. There are better hikes around here, but I hadn't done this one before. It is probably better later in the spring. Now that expectations have been appropriately lowered, here goes.
My buddy and I got to the trailhead around noon. The trails form a figure 8, and I had read somewhere the northeast portion was beautiful. That didn't turn out to be true, it looked like it had been logged or something
But within a couple miles, we got back to typical western PA terrain. Trails along creeks:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27otkvC]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1HRw]
And mossy boulders and mini waterfalls:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1MPw]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1Nu9]
We eventually made our way down to the reservoir. Usually, we like to set up camp in the woods, but there is a boat in campground that was empty and we decided to give it a try.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1LbG]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1LBw]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27otk8y]
As we sat, we found we couldn't even hear each other talk. The Mormon tabernacle frog choir was at full volume. I didn't know if they were going to quiet down or not, but we decided not to take any chances. We decided to bushwack up a creek that feeds the reservoir (after a swim and a beer). Some number of marshes later, we ended up in our more typical kind of spot.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27sE5Rk]
I was trying out a couple new things this trip. I wore La Sportiva wildcat shoes instead of boots. The were fine comfort-wise. They didn't dry out very quickly, which was a surprise. Also, my ankles were a little sore. The hike out the next day was mostly a sidehill climb along the shore of the water. And I've been trying to transition to just a tarp. This time I brought my groundsheet and rainfly and my mosquito hammock. It worked pretty well. In the meantime, I've gotten a tarp, so I'll give that a whirl next time. And maybe get some netting instead of the hammock. I just don't want anything crawling on me while I'm asleep.
I realize I'm pushing the "no trip is too short" and "we like to see other parts of the country" arguments. But I get so much from this site that I will always put trip reports on here. I'll be on a 9 day trip in Glacier in September, so I expect that one will be more entertaining![/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url]
My buddy and I got to the trailhead around noon. The trails form a figure 8, and I had read somewhere the northeast portion was beautiful. That didn't turn out to be true, it looked like it had been logged or something
But within a couple miles, we got back to typical western PA terrain. Trails along creeks:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27otkvC]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1HRw]
And mossy boulders and mini waterfalls:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1MPw]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1Nu9]
We eventually made our way down to the reservoir. Usually, we like to set up camp in the woods, but there is a boat in campground that was empty and we decided to give it a try.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1LbG]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24H1LBw]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27otk8y]
As we sat, we found we couldn't even hear each other talk. The Mormon tabernacle frog choir was at full volume. I didn't know if they were going to quiet down or not, but we decided not to take any chances. We decided to bushwack up a creek that feeds the reservoir (after a swim and a beer). Some number of marshes later, we ended up in our more typical kind of spot.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27sE5Rk]
I was trying out a couple new things this trip. I wore La Sportiva wildcat shoes instead of boots. The were fine comfort-wise. They didn't dry out very quickly, which was a surprise. Also, my ankles were a little sore. The hike out the next day was mostly a sidehill climb along the shore of the water. And I've been trying to transition to just a tarp. This time I brought my groundsheet and rainfly and my mosquito hammock. It worked pretty well. In the meantime, I've gotten a tarp, so I'll give that a whirl next time. And maybe get some netting instead of the hammock. I just don't want anything crawling on me while I'm asleep.
I realize I'm pushing the "no trip is too short" and "we like to see other parts of the country" arguments. But I get so much from this site that I will always put trip reports on here. I'll be on a 9 day trip in Glacier in September, so I expect that one will be more entertaining![/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url]
