Backpacking Pennsylvania: Loyalsock Link Trail

This weekend I headed to northern Pennsylvania with a friend for the last backpacking trip of the season. Surprisingly, many of the trails in that area have a lot of elevation gain! I'm not quite in a good enough shape for 4000+ gain but this one was close! We did the Loyalsock Link trail loop from Dutchman Falls over 3 days for a total of approx 26.8 miles and 3700ft gain.

The trailhead was nice with many parking spots and a bathroom which is appreciated. After a short but steep descent down to the junction for the falls, we enjoyed a long flat path to our next descent. We skipped the side trip to The Haystacks (not sure what that is, maybe another waterfall?).

The next step descent led us to a large bridge which we crossed and continued on the Loyalsock trail.

Our first campsite was by Sones Pond approx 5.9 miles in and it was a beautiful site! Couldn't have asked for better. We had the place to ourselves overlooking the water and multiple fire rings. We set up for the night and enjoyed dinner as we watched the sunset over the trees and pond. It was very quiet--no frogs or water foul could be heard 

The night was chilly in the 40s and the morning was foggy as we hit the trail around 8am. We took our time as the trail became more steep with ups and downs. It was a pretty rugged trail full of roots, downed branches, and rocks which fatigued my feet after awhile. At one point I got tripped up in a large branch making me lose my balance and I took a pretty hard spill on my left shin. That left a mark! I dusted myself off and kept going.

As we climbed in elevation we got some beautiful glimpses of the valley thru the openings.

The trail led us right into Worlds End State Park, and it was much needed because my friends shoes were literally falling apart! The visitors center was kind enough to give him some duct tape to get patched up. After refilling our water and having some lunch, we were back on our way. The trail out was super steep so it took extra time to make any headway in distance.

Eventually we connected to a link trail to begin our loop back toward the trailhead. We happily found our second camping spot shortly after getting on the link trail and once again were blessed to have the whole area to ourselves in the forest. We enjoyed another campfire with dinner and tucked in for some much needed rest after approx 13+ miles that day.

The third day we felt well rested and energized to finish up the hike. The ups and downs were much gentler this day thankfully as our legs were getting tired! As we connected back at the large bridge from the first day, we stopped for a snack and rest before finishing up the last few miles.

As we neared the trailhead there were several people coming in a group that appeared to be from a church outing of some sort. We happily made our way back to the car and hit the road for the 3.5hr drive back home.

All in all it was a challenging but enjoyable trail mainly in part to the excellent weather. There were parts that would be very muddy and slippery in rain! I would not enjoy doing it in the spring or wet time. There are many intersecting trails along the way which can be confusing, so a GPS is very helpful to stay on your intended trail. It would be easy to alter the loop to make it longer if desired as well.

Hiking and Road Trip Thru Washington

I just got back from a long overdue trip to Washington State! I've been wanting to do some hiking there for years and when I saw a good deal on flights, I roped in my travel buddy Christina and I put together a fun itinerary of sightseeing and trails.

We flew out of Rochester Wednesday morning and landed in Seattle that afternoon. The time change left me a bit off kilter--3 hours makes a good difference! Our tiny home Airbnb was about an hour away in Rainier so by the time we got the rental car and headed out it was after dark when we arrived. The cute little house had two sleeping lofts so we unloaded our stuff and tucked in.

I read my book about microplastics while I enjoyed a variety of drinks on the plane.

Our gracious host left us with fresh eggs and goats milk from her farm!

Our first day we headed up into the city to check out Pikes Market for Christina's first time. 

Before leaving there we grabbed some lunch, and of course I got some butter chicken that was delicious! 

We also got to see the gum wall....quite gross if you want to know! 

And the very first Starbucks.

Next stop for the day was to ride the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. Thanks to Google leading us to the wrong terminal, we missed the 2pm ferry by literally 5 minutes. So we hung out in town and had coffee before returning to get on the 445pm ferry. It was a scenic hour + ride thru Puget Sound. Unfortunately no whales were spotted.

But we did enjoy a lovely sunset on the way back to the mainland! And a 3.5hr drive back home. 

For day 3 we headed east this time to Rainier National Park for some trails! I had been there 15 years prior with Nick, but it was still early spring and it was covered in snow. This time everything was green and so pretty! 

First we hiked down to see Narada waterfall (0.2 miles).

Next we hiked down to see Carter and Mad Cap waterfalls (3 miles).

By then it was afternoon so we found the perfect picnic table to have our lunch. After that we headed to the most popular trail there--Skyline trail. Which meant zero parking! We had to circle a couple of times but the parking gods smiled on us and we found a spot in the overflow parking.

This loop has 1700ft of gain in just a couple of miles so it's a workout, but the views along the way are stunning and at the top viewpoint you get a 360° panorama of the mountains and valley. Plus we were so close to Rainier! The glaciers on it had many waterfalls flowing down. 

We also saw some marmots on Marmot hill!

We took a little shortcut on the way down that shaved off a bit of length, so the total mileage with our walk from parking was about 6.2 miles 

A scenic waterfall along the drive....

After that we headed back to home and I cooked us some dinner and we planned our next day 

The following morning we left early to meet my Aunt and Uncle in Pe Ell for breakfast! The are such a lovely couple, and the inspiration for Nick and I to originally visit Washington many years prior. Moving here was our backup plan if we didn't like NY!

Next the road led us to Aberdeen where we paid homage to Kurt Cobain's home town.

From there we headed up the coast and stopped at Ruby Beach for some stunning views of the Pacific ocean.

And of course the obligatory fan girl stop in Forks for Twilight! We ate at a little cafe then checked out the funny gift shops there where I found a hilarious trinket.

And to finish the trip just down the road was Hoh rain forest in Olympic National Park. The day had been very sunny so it wasn't really rain forest vibes, but the Hall of Mosses was a neat trail and I can imagine the lushness on a gloomy day (1.3 miles).

We were treated to a herd of elk right by the road on our way out!

And a beautiful sunset along the coast on our long drive back home.

The morning of day 5 we enjoyed some friendly deer outside the window during coffee.

For our last full day there we headed NW up to the north end of Olympic National Park for a few trails there. First we stopped in Port Angeles for lunch and ate it at a beautiful waterfront park.

The most popular trail here was Hurricane Hill and we were blessed once again with a parking spot so we grabbed it and hit the trail. This one was paved and more gentle but still a decent workout up to an amazing viewpoint of the park (3.2 miles).

Along the way we saw a black bear way off in the distance, and an Olympic marmot that is only found in this park.

After that trail we headed to our final trail of the trip, the Sunrise viewpoint trail. This one winded up a ridge toward the east for a breathtaking view of the other side of the park (1.2 miles).

At one point a buck was literally right next to the trail! He was unimpressed with the hikers. 

On the long drive back home we ate some delicious dinner at Manic Meatballs, then got up at o' dark thirty the next morning to fly home! Another great trip for the record books.