Cook Forest State Park....I've had many a friend say that they were going there, but I had never been there myself. They were right for going! So with all these great endorsements, we packed up this morning to make the trip. About 2 hours north of us, the drive was enjoyable too. We drove past an old friends camp where we spent many a festive summer holiday weekend boating on the Allegheny River. Past some landmarks that brought back some very, very fond memories from years that seem forever ago.


Our first stop was a dirt road to the right that advertised the Seneca Point Overlook and the Fire Tower. To be honest, it was the first brown park sign we came to, so I spun the Jeep in. We met a few fellow hikers in the parking area who asked if we wanted to join them on their hike, but we had many other places to see, and this was only our first stop. It's only a short walk up to Seneca Point from the parking area and you're actually on the Baker Trail, which is part of the North Country NST.

The view from Seneca Point.

Who the hell are these people? And why are they in our picture?

Backtracking a little bit, you come to the fire tower. Not used since the mid 50's for actual fire spotting, it still gives a great view of the surrounding landscape.

It looks imposing from the ground, but we've been to Mt. Davis....we've been higher! Still, when you get to the top, it is kind of unnerving with all the shaking going on. Krissy asked if they still maintain it now that its just an observation tower.

 

Back to the car to find the trail I was interested in. Longfellow Trail receives 60,000 visitors a year, and is the most popular trail in the park. It winds through the Forest Cathedral section of the park, the home to some of the oldest and largest pine and hemlock trees in the Northeast.

 

The trailhead is located next to the Log Cabin Inn Environmental Learning Center, which displays several cut tree slabs that show through their rings just how old they are. Some of them show signs of fire damage back into the 1700's, and died what they call of natural causes in the early 2000's.

The trail is well maintained (as one would expect being the most popular), with only a few steep sections that are made easier with rail road tie steps. Listed at 1.2 miles and a moderate rating, I don't really see anyone having a hard time on here. The trail is blazed with yellow/blue blazes that are spaced too close together for a trail that is this well defined, you would have to try really hard to lose track of this one. It passes an area that was hit with a cyclone (tornado?) in the mid 50's that took out over 60% of the old growth forest. They removed most of the fallen trees, but some still lay on the ground returning to nature. Then you get to the highlight......

Looks like tree fireworks.









Some of these trees are at least 300 years old, and some are over 400! Just think of all the history they have lived through. When was the last time you were excited about a tree?

Giant Lincoln Log?
 

Trees growing everywhere.

Even on top of rocks.
 

The trail was very different from what we are used to. We spend a lot of time in the Laurel Highlands, which has just as many rocks and boulders as it does trees.

 

We returned to our vehicle via Tom's Run Trail, which follows the creek back to the Log Cabin. Tom's Run passes a picnic area with a pavilion and several tables that sit next to the creek. We travelled a total of 1.95 miles, kinda whimpy....

Anyone familiar with "History of the World, Part 1"?
"Everything's so green!"

 What's up next week....nothing, Krissy has to work. Week after....???????





Trough Creek State Park



We've been to most of the State Parks close to home, so now we have to spend valuable hiking time, driving farther away to see something new. This past Wednesday, we went to Trough Creek State Park near Altoona. It's about a two hour drive from our home in Greensburg.

The park is known for having a suspension bridge, waterfall and a geologic feature called Balanced Rock. There are also 12 miles of trails to explore, all of which led to our choosing this park

Starting at the Balanced Rock parking area, it is only a few hundred feet down a well marked trail to the suspension bridge, which leads to both Rainbow Falls and the Rock. Krissy was not as big of a fan of the bridge as I was!

A slight climb after the bridge leads to Rainbow Falls. Unfortunately, the water level was really low, so I (appropriately too I think) renamed it Rainbow Trickle. I'm certain that earlier in the Spring, after some winter snowmelt, it would be more impressive.

Rainbow Falls

Continuing up the trail, we reached Balanced Rock, which is...a rock balanced on the side of a cliff. Softer sandstone rock has been worn away underneath it for more than a couple years leaving it perched on the cliff, looking like it could fall at any minute. I of course pictured myself leaning on it and knocking it off! What you'll notice from the pictures, and from the graffiti, that many idiots have also visited the park.

We returned to the parking area by back-tracking the trail. The trailhead for Boulder Trail is directly across from the bridge trail. The trail is appropriately named, as it is littered with large and small rocks. It is only 1.05 miles in length, but gains 400 feet of elevation in half its length. There are several switchbacks to keep the grade more manageable, but it was still quite a workout. It crosses an old logging road just before leveling out at the top of the ridge. Then down about 300 feet ending up at the Ice Mine. Trail blazes are red circles, which were badly faded, but the trail is easy to follow. My wife and I e-mailed the park to inquire about returning to hike the trail again to help by repainting the blazes. I'll let you know when we do this.

This is what the majority of the trail looks like.

One of the namesake boulders. This one was actually in the shape of a boat.
 

The reason we chose this trail was because it leads to another park feature called the Ice Mine. Not really any ice, or anything I would call a mine, it was a welcome destination after hiking the trail. 

The mine is just a small hole dug into the side of the mountain. Krissy seemed disappointed and said to me, "that's it?!!!". Bear in mind, it was 84 degrees out with about 138% humidity when we did this hike. When you go down the 10 or 12 steps into the mine, the temperature drops probably 25 or 30 degrees. It felt like air conditioning! You can see your breath when talking. What causes it is the cooler air sinking through the cracked rocks of the mountain and flowing out like an air duct. Pretty cool actually.

Krissy talked me into retuning to our Jeep by following Boulder Trail back, instead of walking back on the relatively flat road, and I'm glad she did. Like I said, short hike but it will get your heart beating.
I'll be sure to update you when we do some volunteer work at the park.

Next up....?????