As Memorial Day was approaching this year, I was in need of a get-away. My daughters and one nephew had recently expressed an interest in doing some backpacking and, of course, my friend Cathy is always looking for some miles to help maintain her trail legs so there were 2 questions: 1) where to go and 2) who’s coming?

Honestly, the second question had some influence on the first as, with a large group of inexperienced backpackers, I’d probably opt for a few sections of the Laurel Highlands trail and take advantage of the shelters but, as the departure date drew closer, the list of possible participants began to dwindle and I decided to head for the Quehanna trail instead.

Another huge difference between the two trails are the rules for camping. The LHHT is contained within a combination of state parks, state game land and private property so camping is permitted only in the designated shelter areas.

The QT, by comparison, is almost wholly within the Moshannon and Elk state forests and, in PA, state forests allow camping anywhere on a dispersed, minimum impact basis. The rules for camping are simple:

-All trash is to be packed out,

-Do not clear vegetation,

-Camp at least 100 feet from any water source,

-Dispose of any waste water (think washing you, your clothing or dishes) at least 200 feet from any water source,

-All human waste should be buried in a “cat hole” at least 6 inches deep and not within 200 feet of a water source.

-No standing trees (even the dead ones) may be cut and

-All campsites should be a minimum of 25 feet off of the trail and, preferably, not within sight of the trail.

There are many places along the QT where campsites have become established over the years and many violate one or more of the above rules. Personally, my criteria for use is: If I am planning to have a campfire, the least amount of impact to the area is probably to just use the established site as long as it is not directly on the trail (there are a few of these and I hate walking right through someone’s camp so I won’t make someone else do it either).

Hoping that the number of cars would not mean a weekend of “people everywhere”, I started counter-clockwise on the QT so that I could hike the West Cross Connector (WXC) Northbound. Not only is this the way that my guidebook describes that trail but it meant that I would be going down the steep hill at the north end instead of having to climb it.

Around the trailhead there are some interpretive / educational displays and I did dawdle a bit reading some of these.

The southern part of the QT is relatively flat, traverses a large plateau of open forest and meadows and water is abundant. The trail, for the most part, was clear and readily apparent although it was narrow enough that I found that I was carrying my hiking poles instead of using them (they seemed to be dragging through the ferns & grasses that crowded the trail edges when they weren’t getting stuck in rocks and roots and they seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help during this section)

Getting to the WXC requires about 5 miles of hiking on the QT and then a bit of road hiking either on or parallel to Wallace Mine rd. I had originally hoped to get to where the WXC crossed Trout run (about 2 ½ miles N of the QT) but the late start and overcast skies had the daylight fading fast and I set up a dry camp in a small clearing a little ways off the side of the road around 8pm.

Day 2

It rained off and on during the night and I awoke early Saturday morning to a light drizzle. I still had a nearly full 1 liter bottle of water so I made oatmeal for breakfast and skipped the coffee until later when I could find a water source.

As it turned out, the stump was hollow, the camera was insufficiently wedged into it and I got some great footage of me walking away before the scene tilted and the camera fell into a hole in the stump where it filmed about 3 minutes of black with just a tiny bit of daylight and then a voice saying “where the #*!! is the GoPro?”

At the bottom of the hill the WXC ended and I was back on the QT where it runs on top of Little Medix rd. I turned east and headed off in search of the original section of the QT that has now been relabeled as Bear Run trail. The QT was a road walk until it turned left on Medix Grade rd and then it soon left the road to climb steeply and run parallel to it.

Warning signs abound that this trail requires a shallow water wet foot crossing and this is, in fact, the reason that the QT was rerouted. There had apparently been a couple of attempts at building bridges over Medix Run but high water kept wiping the bridges out and the project was scrapped. A new section of the QT was built and the trail was rerouted onto the northern end of the WXC (shortening the WXC by about 3 ½ miles).

On top of that, the trail led steadily uphill for what seemed like a ridiculously long time until finally topping off at a firepit that sits directly in the middle of the old road grade. At that point, I seriously debated just setting up another dry camp off to the side of the trail here but, upon checking the guidebook, I saw two entries that seemed intriguing: Mr Cramer said that there was an old car camping site by the bridge on Blackwell road (so, potentially a better campsite and water readily available) and, if it was occupied, there was supposed to be an excellent spring a quarter mile further on Blackwell (I figured I’d find a spot somewhere close and, if nothing else, I’d have good water).

I continued on to Blackwell and, sure enough, the “old” car camp was already occupied (Memorial day weekend, right?) so I trudged south on Blackwell to find the spring.

This spring is actually in the middle of a hairpin turn of Blackwell road and is also the point at which Bear Run trail rejoins the QT. There may very well be nice camping spots near this junction if I had gone a bit (the wrong way) on the QT but I wasn’t very picky at that point and there were a couple of car pull-offs nearby that were unoccupied so I figured that I’d just occupy one myself and I dipped a platypus full of water from the spring and proceeded to set up camp.

Day 3

I slept well and woke early but found that the knee that I’d twisted the previous day had really tightened up overnight. I limped around the campsite making breakfast and coffee while trying to get it to loosen up to where I could walk comfortably on it.

By 9 or so the coffee was gone and my knee felt as good as it was likely to feel, all gear had been packed and the water bottles were full so I once again shouldered my pack and started down the trail toward my truck.

I had almost a mile of road walk until the blazes led up a camp driveway and then along Saunder’s run. There were a few established campsites in this hollow and several more areas that would be nice for LNT camps.

Shortly after the trail register, I came across a snowmobile trail bridge through a swampy area and had to look carefully for the orange blazes in order to stay on the trail (if you’ve read my Round Lake BWCA trip report, you’re aware that snowmobile trails seem to be my bane). I didn’t add miles to the trip this time as I spotted the blazes going off to the left soon after crossing the bridge.

Summary:

I really enjoyed the route and found it both challenging and surprisingly deserted for such a major holiday weekend. I’ll likely tackle the whole 73 mile QT trail in the 2nd week of October (for prime leaf color) and I suspect that I’ll see more people on it.

If doing it again, I would certainly leave earlier in the day with the intention of spending the first night at the established site at Trout run. Not only is it an outstanding site but it would split the mileage better to stay there the first night and aim for the second night at the camp I passed on above Laurel run.

Doing it this way would give me 7(ish) miles the first day, 9 or 10 the second and about 6 ½ to finish out. It would also put both camps in very secluded areas where fires would not be an issue due to the established fire rings. (fires are not at all critical for me but it’s nice to have the option)

I was very pleased with the amount of gear that I took as well as how everything worked. I’ll probably ditch a few items that I didn’t need and I may try to reduce weight a bit more by looking for a camping hammock but none of that is critical as what I had worked well.

Coming down off the WXC, I was actually glad that my friend Cathy had opted out of the trip. She sustained an injury this past winter that makes slippery conditions unwise and I’m not sure how we’d have managed that descent. Hopefully all will be better for the Fall trip and perhaps she (or my kids) will join me then.

Speaking of injuries, I’ll also need to pick up a knee brace before the next trip. I’ve broken my right ankle twice during my lifetime so I always carry an ankle brace (I think I have arthritis in it as it has a dull ache all the time but gets really painful if I twist it)... I’m pretty sure I’ll quit hiking when I need a back brace as well.

In the meantime, I shot some video with the GoPro during this hike so I’ll try my hand at editing video until I can get out again. If I can put anything together that I feel is worth watching, I’ll post a link here.