SLEDDING WITH BOONE
Christy
and I traveled to Pennsylvania for Christmas this year to visit her
family. Getting there proved to be quite
an event. We left on Monday, but made
visits to my parents on the way. As a
result, we didn’t start the 6 ½ hour drive to Clearfield, PA, until 7:30
Tuesday evening. This proved to be a
mistake. Shortly after leaving, we heard
that freezing rain was expected throughout western Pennsylvania that
night. We hoped we could outrun the
storm, but the first rain drops started to fall when we were in Maryland. With temperatures in the upper 20’s, we knew
that conditions could deteriorate rapidly.
We
made it most of the way to Altoona before it started to rain hard. Before long, ice was forming on our
windshield. By this point, every minor
hill became exciting. We reduced our
speed to a crawl, and we still had 50 miles to go. Unfortunately, some of those 50 miles would
be on a winding mountain road. By the
time we reached Altoona, we had conceded defeat. We got off the highway, and found a room at
the Motel 6.
Luckily,
the temperatures rose the next morning.
The rain continued, but the ice started to melt. It’s a good thing, too – otherwise, we
might’ve been stuck at the Motel 6 in Altoona for Christmas! A Tuna Christmas isn’t what we had in mind
for the holidays!
The
highlight of our time in Altoona was breakfast at the Eat’n’Park. While we were eating, a family came in with a
particularly boisterous woman. We could
clearly hear everything she said from the moment she entered the
restaurant. Christy and I looked at each
other and rolled our eyes. As luck would
have it, they were seated at a table across from friends of theirs. When they sat down, she waved to her friend
and said, “it’s great we got this table, now we can
chat!” Christy spit omelet out her
nose. I laughed and said, under my
breath, “lady, you could chat with them even if you were sitting on the other
side of the buffet!”
We
made it to Clearfield that afternoon, and endured another day of cold
rain. The weather was relatively decent
on Christmas day, but family obligations eliminated any chance of getting out
in the woods. The highlight of Christmas
day was spending time with the family, and giving and receiving gifts. My favorite new toy is a game for my Playstation – Cowbell Hero IV: More Cowbell.
The
forecast for the rest of the week looked nasty.
My only reasonable hiking opportunity would be on Friday morning, before
the next wave of freezing rain moved in.
I decided to take advantage of the opportunity, even though I would be
forced to get up early. I needed to go
hiking in the worst way, and I knew that Boone would benefit from some
exercise, too.
I
left the house at 7:30, and reached Parker Dam State Park by 8, despite having
to stop for gas. It was a refreshing
change not having to drive 2 hours or more to get to a trailhead! Parker Dam State Park is the trailhead for
the Quehanna Trail, which is 70+ mile loop route
along the Quehanna Plateau. I had done several sections of the Quehanna Trail on previous hikes, but I’d never visited the
Parker Dam area.
At
Parker Dam, I found a small lake, a campground, a visitor’s center, and a
network of trails. Getting
to the actual Quehanna Trailhead proved to be
difficult though, as the road leading to the parking area was closed due to
ice. Instead, I parked at the
Visitor’s Center, where I picked up a park map and signed in for my hike. According to the register, the last person to
hike the Quehanna Trail from Parker Dam was a month
earlier!
I
grabbed my pack, leashed Boone, and hit the road before 8:30. It was nice to get an early start, even
though it was only 26 degrees. We
followed the road down to an ice-covered bridge over Little Laurel Run. I followed the road for few more minutes
before reaching the actual trailhead parking area. The parking lot was a sheet of ice, and I
couldn’t even make it over to the start of the actual trail! Fortunately I’d brought my Yaktrax ice cleats.
I slipped them on, and walked across the ice like it was dry
pavement. Today’s hike would’ve been
real short without the ice cleats. I
ended up needing them for over 90% of the hike.
Boone
followed me, slipping and sliding all over the place, despite having “4-wheel”
drive. He had a tough time with the ice
all day long. Even mild grades were an
adventure for him. At one point, I was
descending a sizeable hill, moving cautiously.
Boone came jaunting by, but then started to slide. With all four legs out stiff he skated on
past me, a look of puzzled horror on his face.
He eventually came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. On another occasion, he knocked a stick loose
at the top of a hill. It started sliding
down the slope, and he chased after it.
It was hysterical watching him try to retrieve a moving target, despite
the fact that he was sliding out of control.
Going uphill wasn’t any easier for him.
He basically had to power his way up each slope since he had very little
traction.
Fortunately,
most of the hike was flat. Despite the
gentle terrain, we made horrible time.
We only averaged a little over 1mph for the first half of the hike. This was largely due to the conditions. Even with ice cleats on, care was
needed. Also, I spent a bit of time
taking photos of Little Laurel Run. The
best spot was at an island in the stream.
A trail bridge leads out to the island, which might make for a nice
campsite (although it was hard to tell under all of the snow and ice). Shortly after this, the sun actually made an
appearance. This was a pleasant surprise,
as I was anticipating freezing rain by early afternoon. With the sun coming out, I had reason to hope
that I might finish the hike dry.
We
passed through a beautiful stretch of hardwood forest shortly before the
junction with the Cut Off Trail. We followed this trail back towards the park,
strolling through another lovely stretch of woods. After this, the trail got a bit more
rugged. On two occasions, one of my ice
cleats came off. Each time, I was
quickly reminded that this hike would’ve been impossible without them. There were also several marshy areas that
were difficult to negotiate without getting wet boots. At one point, I reached a crossing of a
frozen puddle. Jumping across was out of
the question, and marshy areas made going around it impossible. I was pretty sure the ice would hold, but I
didn’t trust it. I sat on the icy bank,
planning to give the ice a good hard kick to test it. Regrettably, once I sat down, my feet were in
the air, and my feet were the only things with any traction. I immediately slid off the bank, down into
the gully. At that point, I could only
hope that the ice would hold! Luckily it
did, but climbing out the other side proved to be a challenge.
A
bit later, I reached the first significant downhill of the hike. For some reason, the trail drops down into
the gorge of Saunders Run. After
following the creek briefly, it promptly climbs back out. I considered bypassing this section by
bushwhacking around the gorge. I was
reluctant to leave the blazed trail in the snow though, so down I went. The descent wasn’t too bad, although Boone
did a fair bit of sliding around.
Saunders Run was nice, and I stopped for a quick lunch near the
creek. Clouds were thickening to the
west, and if rain was inevitable, I wanted to at least finish lunch first.
A
few minutes later, we had to cross a tributary.
Normally this is a small stream, but all of the recent rain turned this
crossing into a tricky rock hop. I made
it across, but Boone froze on the far side.
He could’ve stepped through it easily enough, but for some reason, he
seemed alarmed. I called to him, trying
to get him to follow me, but he wouldn’t budge.
Bribing him with a doggie treat didn’t convince him, either. Going back wasn’t an option, and I didn’t
want to try to carry him across. Even
though Boone is only 6 months old, he already weighs 50 pounds! My only other option was to continue without
him to see how he would react. I walked
ahead a bit, before turning and calling to him again. This time, Boone went for it. He made a flying leap that was effective, if
not exactly graceful. He came running to
me, his little stump of a tail wagging faster than I’d ever seen it! Then he remembered the treat I’d left on a
rock next to the creek. He tried to go back
for it, and started down a steep icy slope towards the creek. He was about one step from a fast ride ending
in an icy bath when I grabbed him. I
went down and recovered his treat for him, and we resumed the hike.
Before
long, we had to climb out of the gorge.
The climb wasn’t very long, but it was steep. Initially the grade was
reasonable, but then we reached a 30’ climb up an exceptionally steep
slope. Yaktrax
ice cleats are great, but they aren’t designed for mountaineering. This spot was definitely testing their
limits, and I had to pick my way carefully uphill. Unfortunately there wasn’t any vegetation
here, so I had nothing to hold onto.
Boone tried to follow me, but he kept stopping on the side of the
hill. Each time he did, he slid back down
to the bottom. Finally, I was getting
close to the top when Boone went bounding past me. He was almost at the crest of the hill when
looked back at me and stopped. “NO
BOONE, DON’T STOP, KEEP GOING……”, I yelled, but it was
too late. He started sliding backwards,
and this time, I was directly in his path.
His bright blue eyes were the size of hubcaps as he started rocketing
towards me. I only had time for one
thought. Oh shit.
He
hit me in the knees, and my world turned upside down. At first, we seemed to be hurtling towards
the creek far below. Then we actually
seemed to gain speed. I was on my
stomach, sliding backwards, and somehow Boone had ended up on top of me. I’ve been sledding many times over the years,
but this was the first time that I was the actual sled! I saw a sapling pass by in a blur, and made a
desperate grab for it. I caught it, but
couldn’t hold on. At least my attempt
slowed us down a bit, right before we ran into a stout tree. Having that tree break my fall wasn’t pleasant,
but it was better than the alternative.
If we’d missed it, we would’ve slid all the way to the creek!
The
good news is neither of us appeared to be seriously injured. The bad news is that we were back where we
started. I surveyed the area for a better
ascent, but didn’t see many options. I
didn’t want to spend the rest of the winter in the Saunders Creek gorge! I made my second attempt a few feet to the
right of the actual trail, where a scattering of weeds and saplings provided
mediocre handholds. This time we reached
the top, although I had to give Boone a hard shove to get him over the
hump. The climb continued from there,
but the grade was reasonable. Near the
top of the hill, I reached a trail sign, and the blazes on the trees switched
from blue to orange. I was puzzled by
this, but continued ahead. Before long,
we crossed a forest road before eventually reaching a large field. From here, we followed a logging road down to
the park road we had hiked in on. We
followed this road back past the original trailhead, and on to the car. We reached the car around 2pm, having covered
6.5 miles on trail and perhaps another mile on the road. 7.5 miles in nearly 5.5 hours isn’t impressive,
but given the trail conditions, it was understandable. Luckily, the rain held off until late that
afternoon. It was a great day to get out
in the woods and enjoy the crisp air, the peaceful woods, and the snow. As usual, I’d seen nobody on the trail. My only company had been the occasional
squirrel and the frequent deer tracks. I
didn’t see any deer (or elk, which were reintroduced to the area some years
ago), but that isn’t surprising. After
all, it was hunting season!
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