Brad and I headed out Sunday morning with a friend bound for northern PA to try out a new trail! "Old Loggers Path" is a backpacking loop in the Loyalsock State Forest. We intended to do the entire loop over 2 nights and 3 days in a clockwise direction from the main trailhead in Masten. However we cut the trip short on day 2....keep reading to see why!
Rain was forecasted off and on, so the trails were expectedly muddy or flooded in some places. However otherwise it was a great trail! Very well marked, lots of campsites, and some nice viewpoints.
We set up camp at a site approx 8 miles in and were able to get set up and cook dinner before the rain returned! We ate dinner inside our tents then after it stopped we came back out to clean up and hang our food bags before calling it a day.
A few more miles up the trail we came to the river crossing. It doesn't look like much in the photo but the center part of the river was much deeper and the current was pretty swift from all the recent rain. We scouted up and down the bank but there really wasn't an easier place to cross. There was a fallen tree that Brad was brave enough to scoot across, however we did not want to chance it.
Ken and I took our time carefully fording the river with our poles. Brad stood on the other side eating jelly beans and watching us. As we got to the center of the river the depth was up to my hips, and the current was very strong. I moved very slowly with my poles to stay balanced and aimed for some rocks to brace myself. I made it on to them and turned back to watch for Ken behind me. Unfortunately the current swept his feet out from under him and he lost his balance for a moment. I was able to reach out a pole for him to grab so he could regain his footing and get onto the bank. His pole however was lost to the river and floated on it's merry way.
Thankfully we all made it safely to the other side, but Ken had gotten almost completely soaked including the bottom of his pack where his sleeping gear is. His pants and boots were heavy with water and for the next couple of miles he struggled with the added weight. When we came to a road crossing we talked about the unfortunate situation of his wet sleeping bag etc and how that would fare in the upcoming cold and wet night. Together we decided to cut the trip short and take the road back to our car instead of continuing on.
If it had been a warm sunny day then we could have made some adjustments to compensate, however it was rainy with temps in the low 50s and due to go down to the 40s overnight so we chose to be safe and not continue. We did however enjoy the trail and may return later to finish it!
Final mileage: 14.9 miles
Elevation gain: ~2000'
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