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.