HEY MO
On the Saturday after
Christmas, Saucony and I visited Black Moshannon State Park, near Phillipsburg,
PA, for our final hike of 2006. The
hike I chose ended up being a worthy one to end the year on.
I planned a loop starting at
the lake in the middle of the state park.
From there, I would follow Black Moshannon Creek downstream before
joining the Allegheny Front Trail. We’d
follow that trail over the ridge and down to (Red) Moshannon Creek. We’d follow that stream for several miles,
before following Six Mile Run back to highway 504. From there, we’d have to walk a bit more than 2 miles along the
road to return to the car. With the
road walk, the hike would total around 12 ½ miles.
I arrived at the lake at 9AM
and found the parking area deserted, despite an unusually warm, sunny day. I picked up the trail that circles the lake,
and followed it towards the dam.
Although it has been a warm December, a thin layer of ice covered the
surface of the lake in some places close to shore.
I passed the small dam,
crossed a dirt road, and joined the Shingle Mill Trail. At this point, there is a trail sign that
states that the Allegheny Front Trail is 3.4 miles away. This conflicted with the information I found
on the park’s website. The website
claimed that the Shingle Mill Trail was only 2 miles long. I realized that the length of my hike had
just increased to 14 miles and picked up my pace.
Black Moshannon Creek is a
lovely stream. It’s a narrow, winding
creek, with lots of minor rapids along its course. It can be canoed during periods of high water, but the initial
stretch is currently impassable. Dozens
of fallen trees have blocked the channel, and the uppermost portion of the
creek won’t be passable until they are cleared. After the first mile or two the creek seemed to be clearer.
I didn’t make very good time
along here, mainly because I was constantly distracted by the scenery. Black Moshannon Creek is unusually
attractive, even in an area of beautiful rivers. Sometimes trails that follow streams stay well away from the
water, but that wasn’t the case here.
The trail generally stayed within sight of the creek, and frequently I
was only a few feet away. Eventually I
was forced to leave the creek behind though.
I reached a junction with the Allegheny Front Trail, which circles Black
Moshannon State Park (though most of the trail is actually outside the park
boundaries). At the junction is a trail
register. I signed in, and noticed that
I was only the third person to hike through here since Christmas. This was surprising, considering the
excellent weather in the area over the past few days.
My hike on the AFT started
with a tedious climb up a steep slope.
By the time I reached the top of the ridge, I was seriously considering
switching to shorts. I was already down
to only a t-shirt, which is unheard of in the Pennsylvania mountains in the
winter.
I crossed a road and
followed the trail down a jeep road towards a hunting camp. We passed the camp, and continued on the
jeep road along a nearly level ridge.
Eventually we began to descend into the gorge of Red Moshannon
Creek. We passed through a small
meadow, where we were treated to a nice view of the I-80 bridge over Moshannon
Creek, as well as a trestle on the old Snowshoe rail line.
We reached Red Moshannon
Creek a few minutes later and turned to follow it upstream. The Red Moshannon is a creek, but if it were
located in North Carolina, it would be considered a river. The Red Moshannon is a popular canoeing run,
as it passes through a remote gorge with some significant rapids before it
joins the West Branch of the Susquehana River.
Although it runs through some lovely country, the water quality is
poor. Runoff from numerous old coal
mines upstream has polluted the river.
The water is highly acidic, and it has a reddish tint that stains the
rocks along its course. Officially the
river is Moshannon Creek, but it’s commonly called the Red Moshannon because of
this.
I hiked upstream, leaving
the distant noise of I-80 behind. Unfortunately,
the interstate isn’t the only source of noise in the area. The Snowshoe Rail Trail follows the opposite
bank of Moshannon Creek, and this trail is owned by an ATV club. Since it was still hunting season and it was
a lovely Saturday, lots of ATV riders were out. Frequently, the silence of the forest was broken by the high
pitched roar of a dirt bike or ATV. The
Snowshoe Rail Trail passes through a lovely, remote section of
Pennsylvania. Although there isn’t any
true wilderness left in the state, that area could almost qualify. It’s unfortunate that the rail trail wasn’t
preserved for non-motorized use.
Despite the occasional
noise, I still enjoyed my hike along Moshannon Creek. After less than a mile, I reached the remains of an old stone
building and rock hopped Potter Run.
The trail generally stayed well above the creek, but I found an old
roadbed that led down to the creek, possibly at the site of an old ford. I followed it down to the water for
lunch. I ended up with a nice place to
sit in the sun and watch the creek roll by.
I kept my lunch break brief though, since I still had 7 or 8 miles to
hike before dark.
After lunch I followed the
trail along a hillside that was still covered in ferns. A steep descent brought me within a few feet
of the creek, and I passed a nice campsite with easy access to the water. Sometime later I endured a challenging climb
up a spur ridge. I was treated to a
nice view of the gorge at the top, before I plunged back down towards the creek
on the opposite side. A milder climb
followed, and I reached Munson Road around 2:30. Briefly I considered following Munson Road back to my car to
shorten the hike by a couple of miles.
I didn’t really want to do that though, since Munson Road is paved, and
I would miss out on the final leg of the hike.
I still had almost 3 miles of trail ahead of me, followed by a bit over
2 miles of road walking. I decided I
had enough time before dark to finish the hike, and continued on the trail
towards Six Mile Run.
A rocky descent led to the
creek and a nice campsite. I took a
short break here, and admired the third, and possibly most beautiful, stream of
the hike. This one was a bit smaller
than Black Moshannon Creek, but it was still big enough that crossing it would’ve
been a challenge. I followed it
upstream on a trail that rarely strayed far from the water. The mild rapids, pools, and dark forest were
beautiful, but I didn’t have enough time to properly enjoy it. To be honest, I was beginning to run out of
gas. I hadn’t done a hike of this
magnitude since returning from the Rockies in August, and I was feeling
it. Saucony was pretty much whipped,
too. Although I loved the hike along
Six Mile Run, it was a relief to reach route 504.
I leashed Saucony, and we hoofed
it down the road and back to the car.
We arrived just after 5, and there was still a fair bit of light left
behind by the departed sun. We headed
for home, and on the way I considered my options for future hikes in the Black
Moshannon area. I’ve hiked less than
half of the AFT, and other sections sound appealing. I loved Six Mile Run, and the AFT follows the upper stretches of
that creek. On the other side of the
park, the AFT along Rock Run sounds like it might be worth a visit. Aside from the AFT, a loop trail inside the
state park tours a bog and visits several other ecosystems. I’m sure I’ll be back on future trips to
Pennsylvania to check these areas out.
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