hoosier
05-21-2008, 03:29 PM
This past Sunday I decided to head back to Pennsylvania’s Saint Anthony’s Wilderness for some off trail travel.
Earlier in the week I was looking satellite photos of the area on Google maps of the area west of Gold Mine Road. I noticed what appeared to be large quartzite outcrops along the ridge similar to boxcar rocks, which is to the east of Gold Mine Road.
After arriving I parked along Gold Mine Road at a gated woods road, just north of the crossing of the Evening Branch of the Swatara Creek. I headed up the sometimes eroded woods road heading easily uphill for .75 miles to a junction with an old railroad grade remnant from the early 20th century. Turned too west onto the old railroad bed passing a trail sign nailed to a tree, before arriving at Gold Mine Run after 300 feet.
Headed north along the beautiful cascading Gold Mine Run, following a virtually unblazed use path. I did notice two orange blazes in .50 miles. The trail follows a rocky footpath with some easy scrambling along the creek in a dark hemlock grove before arriving at another old woods road were I crossed Gold Mine Run on rocks. After following the woods road uphill for .10 miles I began bushwhacking in a westerly direction thru hemlocks at first the steeply uphill over large, slippery, rock tripe covered boulders in open woods. After .20 miles I gained the ridge top which I followed west passing by increasingly higher outcrops of quartzite. Some being twenty to forty feet high by 30 feet wide at their base, and occasionally having balanced boulders on top. These outcrops are not quite as spectacular as boxcar rocks, but then again they are not covered with graffiti. The outcrops lasted for the next .75 miles before lessening into just quartzite boulder/talus filled woods and then just nice open woods in a col.
It began to rain very lightly and I decided to bushwhack north for approximately .20 miles to another old woods road which parallels the ridge on its north side. Just before arriving at the old woods road I came upon a nest on the ground filled with eight large off white eggs. Figure they may have been from wild turkeys, as I heard one gobbling nearby.
I followed the old woods road east at first and the south thru a planted pine forest, before arriving back at the crossing of Gold Mine Run and retracing my steps back to my car. Even though it was a grey day with some light rain falling, it turned out to be a great short hike in a very nice area of PennsWoods.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2430969840102181733stQXKi
Bill Maurer
Earlier in the week I was looking satellite photos of the area on Google maps of the area west of Gold Mine Road. I noticed what appeared to be large quartzite outcrops along the ridge similar to boxcar rocks, which is to the east of Gold Mine Road.
After arriving I parked along Gold Mine Road at a gated woods road, just north of the crossing of the Evening Branch of the Swatara Creek. I headed up the sometimes eroded woods road heading easily uphill for .75 miles to a junction with an old railroad grade remnant from the early 20th century. Turned too west onto the old railroad bed passing a trail sign nailed to a tree, before arriving at Gold Mine Run after 300 feet.
Headed north along the beautiful cascading Gold Mine Run, following a virtually unblazed use path. I did notice two orange blazes in .50 miles. The trail follows a rocky footpath with some easy scrambling along the creek in a dark hemlock grove before arriving at another old woods road were I crossed Gold Mine Run on rocks. After following the woods road uphill for .10 miles I began bushwhacking in a westerly direction thru hemlocks at first the steeply uphill over large, slippery, rock tripe covered boulders in open woods. After .20 miles I gained the ridge top which I followed west passing by increasingly higher outcrops of quartzite. Some being twenty to forty feet high by 30 feet wide at their base, and occasionally having balanced boulders on top. These outcrops are not quite as spectacular as boxcar rocks, but then again they are not covered with graffiti. The outcrops lasted for the next .75 miles before lessening into just quartzite boulder/talus filled woods and then just nice open woods in a col.
It began to rain very lightly and I decided to bushwhack north for approximately .20 miles to another old woods road which parallels the ridge on its north side. Just before arriving at the old woods road I came upon a nest on the ground filled with eight large off white eggs. Figure they may have been from wild turkeys, as I heard one gobbling nearby.
I followed the old woods road east at first and the south thru a planted pine forest, before arriving back at the crossing of Gold Mine Run and retracing my steps back to my car. Even though it was a grey day with some light rain falling, it turned out to be a great short hike in a very nice area of PennsWoods.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2430969840102181733stQXKi
Bill Maurer