A Hike From My Youth

Jizo comes with us on all our hikes.  

Back to the LHHT

A week or so ago, I was watching the news and thinking about hiking or camping or anything away from here. I suggested we should head up to PA and hike the same hike that I did as a 18 or 19 year old back in the day. It was a very fun and memorable trip with our large group doing a three day, two night hike that covered about 16 miles.

My uncle Joe was the responsible party who made the shelter reservations and my brothers, some cousins and a friend or two were also a part of the group. I think we had around 8 to 10 people. I can't remember who they all were.

In the 90s we came back. This time my group was my wife, two daughters, my sister and one or two of her kids. We only did the day one hike and slept one night at the Rt 31 Shelters and then went back to the cars.

In 2015, when Dilly Dilly and I did an end to end hike of the LHHT, we would hike this section in one, 14 mile day.

Research, Reservations and Resupply

When LoGear gave me the ok, I texted Dilly to tell him our plans. He was in. We made reservations at the Rt 31 and Grindle Ridge Shelter areas, selecting campsites instead of a shelter, so we could hang our hammocks. I don't sleep on the ground or wooden boards anymore, unless I have to. Dilly reserved a shelter for the two nights. Later he let us know that Ed, his usual traveling partner, was coming along too. The forecast for those three days was threatening us with thunderstorms and rain for all three days, but the weather rarely makes me cancel my plans.

I excitedly made my menu for the trip. This time I decided to smooth it for the meals. We would hump in heavy, tasty foodstuffs, like steak, potatoes, squash and a raw egg. Dinner the first night would be the steak, potatoes and squash and breakfast would be hash browns, with egg, bacon bits and cheese all mixed together. Our resupply mission at Walmart was exciting as the anticipation always builds when I'm looking for light, calorie dense items to put in my food bag.

The day arrived and it was time to go. We headed out of town, away from our prison like home that had kept us glued in the area for some time. We were healthy and had our masks and PA was heading towards green and MD had just loosened the reins a bit, so we could leave the state.

From Rain to Perfection

The morning was rainy and wet. We headed down the highway constantly setting and re-setting the wiper speed as the rain came and went and the road spray bellowed off of the 18-wheelers we passed.

We had a three and a half hour drive ahead of us, but we enjoyed the travel. Watching the countryside rush by as the scenery changed from suburban, to rural, to mountainous. We left Rt 68 in western Maryland, stopped at a McDonald's for some lunch and headed into PA. Soon we were on the last country roads and saw our pull off of Rt 653, where we would be ending our hike.

We came into the parking area and saw Dilly and Ed at their truck. There were a few cars in the lot, so we pulled in a few slots over and said our hellos. We grabbed our gear and put it in Dilly's truck and in a few minutes were on our way to our starting point, Rt 31 Parking lot.

The rain had stopped and the day had become quite nice. A little on the warm and humid side, but it wasn't bad at all. After a few minutes of checking that we had what we needed, we started up the trail. Heading northbound for this first afternoon's walk.

A Short Start

Day 1 would consist of just 1.9 miles to the Rt 31 Shelter area. It was a perfect start to the trip after the long car travel. It was also why we were able to bring the good food. We had started walking just before 1400 and were walking into camp 46 minutes later. The walk in was easy and uneventful. A lot of it was down hill that I didn't really notice as we moved along, but would be well aware of it the next day as we retraced our steps southbound for the beginning of day 2.

Dilly and Ed (later Blue Tail) settling in to Shelter 1

We had shelter 1 reserved. It was located near shelter 2 but away from the other shelters, the privys and pump. Across a small intermittent stream. It was still close enough to the other structures, but far away to allow privacy. As long as no one had reserved Shelter 2. There was a large fire ring in front of the shelters in a flat area. We found a small stream running along the meadow at the back of the camp, so we refilled there instead of going to the pump, which usually has not so good tasting water.

Our night one hammock set-up

We found some good trees to hang our hammocks near the shelters and went to work setting up. Finding good trees and setting up is always step one for us. Dilly and Ed set up in the shelter. We went across to the wood pile which had not been replenished this year it appeared. I dug through the duff and dirt and found a good dozen or so pieces that would probably burn even though they all were at least a little damp. We found enough kindling to get a fire going. As the fire burned, we prepared for our dinners.

LoGear hanging out in empty shelter 2

We heard another couple hikers come in across the creek as we started our dinners. I cut the potato and squash, added some spices, olive oil, bacon bits and cheese. I wrapped it all in foil and placed it on the coals of the fire. Next I got my steak ready and cooked that right on the coals. It is something I saw some Canadians do on YouTube and I had tried it once on a short AT hike in the spring. Just like last time, it came out very good. LoGear cooked her steak on foil and that worked. I had also given her half my squash, so she cooked that too. Dilly had two pork chops, and Ed cooked up a Mountain House. Dinner was delicious.

Hot coals doing their job

Yum.  Smoothing it.

After dinner we tended the fire and hung out. It seemed like the evening lasted a long time. The one thing we noticed was there were no comfortable places to sit except my hammock which was about 40 feet from the fire. Around the fire were just a couple of stumps and some large rocks. It made for some uncomfortable sitting.

Mr and Mrs Mudd. Hanging out by the fire. 

As darkness fell in the forest, we each eventually headed to our sleeping arrangements. We heard another couple of hikers come in as the forest became dark. I was already mostly asleep and all I remember of them coming in was the pump being primed with its loud, squeaky voice.

The night was warm and no rain fell that I knew of.

Day 2

Some time around 0500, the birds decided it was time to get started and we all started stirring around 0530. We did our morning routines and started breaking down camp as we made coffee and our breakfasts. My hash browns, egg, cheese and bacon bits was tasty as I expected. It seems like the cooking pot will never get clean when you are making it, but a little warm water and some finger work gets the job done.

Ed and I departed around 0740 and the others came along after one more visit to the privy. We turned south when the shelter trail came back to the LHHT and retraced our steps back to the parking lot, which would be our first break. We all had left something in the truck that we would pick up today. It saved a little weight for the short hike in.

Back at the parking lot for a break.

It was on the way back that I noticed that we had walked a lot of down hill yesterday. I hadn't noticed until that down hill had become an up hill now. Nothing was too strenuous and we were back at the truck in about 45 to 50 minutes. We took our break, checked our gear and continued on.

Having the mile posts is a great convenience and everyone expressed their pleasure at having these cement, 2 foot high posts waiting for us along the trail as we walked along. Whoever saw it first, would shout out the number and smile a happy smile. We knew that we had to pass four more mileposts until our next long break, but we would have other stops along the way and a short detour to get a treat.

Jizo hanging out in a mossy tree.

Once again, the trail was perfect and we moved along at a leisurely pace. We had all day to do 8.5 miles and we had already ticked off two of them. After a couple more, we approached a hill top where there were a couple of towers and a nice view towards our lunch location at Seven Springs Resort. As we descend the hill, we came to a spring house that Dilly and I had discovered on our through hike. Two black hoses come down the ridge and empty a continuous stream of water into a sunken, stone structure with a rusted tin roof. The water is cold and refreshing. We all filled up and took a break. The two women who had came in late and stayed in one of the shelters across the creek came by and we shouted out to them, asking if they needed any water. They came in and we talked a bit before moving on.

Not .2 later, we came to a road and we knew there was a market about .2 down the road. Ed elected to stay next to the trail and watch our packs so we could go unencumbered. LoGear, Dilly and I headed down the road and found the store. We donned our masks and walked inside. There was a good selection in the store, with a deli and lots of refrigerated items. Also, lots of canned goods and packaged food. You could do a full resupply here. The prices were tourist high, but we didn't care. The ice cream was delicious and really hit the spot. We walked back up to the trail and continued on.

One of the horses at the Seven Springs Stables.

Before too long, we were walking through the empty, green ski resort. No one was around and all the buildings were closed. We headed to the lake that is at the highest point of the resort and saw a perfect place for lunch. The two women were eating their lunch there and one of them had gone for a swim. We dropped our packs and pulled out our food bags. Lunch was the normal fare of pepperoni, cheese and mayo on a ciabatta roll. Both LoGear and I soaked our feet in the lake. It felt very good.

Traversing Seven Springs Resort

We continued on as a few sprinkles fell on us. It was actually very refreshing and there was no need to break out any rain gear. We were passed once again by the women and we saw them no more.

We all cameled up at the creek at the bottom of the hill before the shelter so we wouldn't have to use the pump at the shelter and began our last climb. As we got near the top of the ridge, LoGear and I started picking up downed wood for the fire, since we were anticipating an empty wood pile up ahead. We had started gathering a little early and didn't realize how long the shelter trail was, so we both dumped some or all of what we were carrying and started over again when we got closer.

Grindle Ridge - Shelter 5

We finally reached the end of the shelter trail and found our shelter and some good hammock spots. We set up and were mostly done before Dilly and Ed came into camp. There was a bit of wood around and in the shelter, so our fire would be well stocked for the night.

We had done at least 8.5 miles and were in camp pretty early so we relaxed in our hammocks for awhile before getting a fire going and hanging out at the picnic table. Yes, having a picnic table makes hanging out in camp so much better.

Dilly and Ed found a decent water source down the hill a little ways from the shelter. The pump at Grindle Ridge is notorious for tasting nasty and it was nice to not have to deal with it.

We hung out and eventually had dinner. Tonight was Mountain House all around I believe. The threatened thunder storms never materialized. We only had a short shower around dinner time and some rain when darkness came and we were ready for hammock time.

We gave Ed the trail name Blue Tail to try on. It comes from his stories of his battles with the raccoons that terrorize his chickens at home. We sets live traps for the varmints and when he catches a coon, he spray paints their tail with blue paint before releasing them. It they show up in his traps again, it's curtains for the raccoon.

When we were retiring for the night the rangers finally came over and checked our names. All was well in the forest and at camp. It was going to be a cooler night tonight, so we had our quilts at the ready.

It had been a pretty good hike with very favorable weather. Even the little sprinkles we had a couple times during the day felt good. As darkness once again fell over camp, we all found our comfort in our sleeping bags and quilts and slumber took us quickly.

Completing the Hike

When morning came the rain was gone. It had been a little more chilly overnight and the morning had a crispiness to it, but it was nice. The wood thrush had started its call just after 05 and all the other birds joined in for the next hour or so. We arose and got ready for our last day on trail.

The morning sun rising above the ridge. 

I headed out first at 0730. Taking a leisurely pace and stopping to take photos of one of the shelters before taking the long blue blaze back to the trail. I turned south and started walking. Our first break was about two miles along after mile marker 22. LoGear caught me before too long and we had some interesting track that went through some large rock formations.

Rock maze.

We sat at the rest spot for about 20 minutes before Dilly and Blue Tail caught up. When everyone was rested, we continued on, checking out a nice view along the way.

View to the West.

The trail was good and before too long we were heading up the blue blaze to the parking lot. We had passed a lot more hikers today as we walked along. A small boy scout troop among them.

We weighed our packs and I ate a quick sandwich before we threw our packs into the back and headed back to Rt 31 parking where we started. Back at the truck we all made sure we had all of our gear, said so long, and went our separate ways.

This hike was pretty much perfect. The terrain was easy and the weather was nothing like what was forecast a week ago. This is the ideal hike for almost anyone who wants to get out onto the trail. The terrain is mostly easy, there are some interesting way points along the way and the mileage is very doable.

I can't wait until we can return again.

Jizo watches over us.