Old Loggers Path - Loyalsock State Forest, PA
Tom and I have a tradition (2 years in a row now) of backpacking for our wedding anniversary. If we’re going to die young, might as well do it together and in the woods. We had really aggressive plans starting out to tackle the Black Forest Trail, but (thankfully) we reconsidered and decided on the shorter Old Loggers Path instead. Our final trip clocked in at 28 miles over 3 days (Sunday through Tuesday).
Pictured: One of the amazing views. Seriously I dream about these mountains at night.
We did the trail counter-clockwise, starting (and ending) from the parking lot at the Cherry Ridge Trail head. As you’ll see below, as of spring 2017 the road at Masten is still out and doesn’t look like there are plans to replace it. A state forest office employee told Tom “oh, we lost those roads a few years ago”. She also informed us that some of the sections of the trail were rough, and boy was she right. We made a donation to the Keystone Trails Association to thank them in advance for the hard work they are going to have to put in there later this year! Even though there were lots of big downed trees to climb around/over, and we think part of the trail that continues along Pleasant Run Stream may have been completely eroded, it still was a very enjoyable hike.
There are really nice established campsites, mostly near water sources (but not all). Since we were there mid-May, there was plenty of water and the weather was perfect. We saw 2 other hikers the entire time, and they were off trail heading downhill towards a stream while we were going up. We did find plenty of trash, which was frustrating but I guess not entirely unexpected.
We really got our gear paired down this trip, and wound up carrying about 25 lbs each. That’s not really an ultralight trip but we’re moving closer, getting better about figuring out what we need. That weight doesn’t include water, which we are also fine tuning. We started out with 3 liters just because we didn’t want to risk the streams not being as expected, and were pleasantly surprised. Stopping to filter and refill out water a few times during the day meant less weight to carry and a needed excuse to take a break.
Pictured: One of the more interesting river campsites, you can see the angled ring/chimney and some stone seats set up. Water was clearly no concern. We didn’t actually camp here, just passing through!
Speaking of gear, Tom got trekking poles to help with his recent knee/foot issues. He said they really helped. I was poo pooing them at first and didn’t get a pair for myself, but now I kind of want them too. I tested his and it was much easier than I thought to swing the poles forward, they almost effortlessly swing forward on their own. It was comforting to each take one when we went out to hang the bear bag, and really useful for balance when we had to cross Pleasant Stream! Tom also made sit pads for us out of an old camp pad, and it was sooo nice. Those stone seats are not that comfortable! I also made pot cozy’s from reflectix and foil tape we picked up, which we didn’t have before.
Other trip reports sited bear, snakes and other wildlife but we saw almost nothing. A few birds and some bold mice that tried to snatch our crumbs under our feet one night, that was it.
Pictured: A beautiful photo collage consisting of (left) Tom & his trekking poles crossing a large part of the road that had been washed out, (top right) the beginning of the stretch of road that had been washed out and (bottom right) the whole side of this cabin must have blown right off during the storm that washed out the roads, there were still many large downed trees and debris from the cabin everywhere.
Nature. It’s powerful stuff man. The photos don’t do the damage justice. This was a great hike that I would recommend checking out in person if you have the chance.
So on to the important stuff... what we ate.
Camp Champs Chomps:
Sunday breakfast: at home, bacon and eggs
Sunday lunch: sandwiches we packed in the car and ate right before hitting the trail
Sunday dinner: red beans and rice with chopped dehydrated pork roll, snacks
Monday breakfast: We packed oatmeal in case we wanted a hot meal, but ate granola bars, snacks and these amazing pour over coffee pouches from trader joes
Monday lunch: tuna salad in wraps, snacks. We packed pouch tuna, relish and mayo packets and mixed in pouch before spreading into wraps.
Monday dinner: stuffing with TVP, dried minced onions and extra herbed seasoning. I didn’t make it right (added everything at once instead of letting the water come to a boil first), and the bottom cooked but the top was very dry. Guess which portion I got! Tom surprised me with tiny bottles of prosecco for our anniversary so it was OK. Plus we had delicious snacks.
Tuesday breakfast: Still didn’t eat the oatmeal. We discovered we’re more snacks and coffee people while we slowly repack.
Tuesday lunch: peanut butter wraps and snacks
Tuesday dinner: post-trail burgers at this random side of the road biker bar in the middle of nowhere PA
Trail snacks: homemade beef jerky, dehydrated pork roll, homemade fruit roll ups, homemade granola bars, pepperoni, babybel cheese, wheat thin crackers, dried pineapple, chocolate covered pomegranate bites
We originally thought we were going to do a 4 day trip, take it reaaaaaallly slow and be out earlier on Tuesday but there was a “nor’easter” forecast for Saturday so we consolidated into 3 days at the last minute. I also overestimated the amount of food we would want to eat.... So I also was carrying some couscous with dehydrated peas, sun-dried tomatoes, homemade herbed seasoning and olive oil as an extra hot lunch option and mushroom risotto with chopped beef jerky + instant mashed potatoes with nutritional yeast and bacon bits for dinner side dishes. When we were backpacking last year it was colder and we had less snacks, so that might be why we ate so much for dinner. I had also packed up gourmet ramen with tons of vegetables we dehydrated and a homemade seasoning pack but had the presence of mind to leave that in the car before we left. I didn’t make nearly enough beef jerky, I bought a chuck roast which was all I could find but it was freaking delicious! We really had to stop ourselves from eating it all the first day and ration. I’ll post the recipe I use soon.
If you need to stay connected: Sorry, we were both in airplane mode the entire time to save battery/for emergencies/photos also to enjoy each other’s company without the outside world for a few days.
Useful maps and guides: The most useful map we found was a 17 x 22 printout of the Loyalsock State Forest linked here that we happened to come across at the trail head. It was the last one and I kept it in nice condition intending to return to the bulletin board for the next hiker when we got back, but failed to do. We had printed it on regular 8.5 x 11 in advance, but as you can imagine it didn’t have the level of detail. I’d recommend you get it printed on the larger size if you can.
I also printed a copy of the map and trail notes from MidAtlantic Hikes. I liked features of both maps and wanted to have them both with us so we could make decisions about where to camp at night on the trail. We also downloaded the MidAtlantic Hikes gps files and loaded them onto my trusty Garmin Foretrex 401 GPS. There was no way in hell we were getting lost this trip!