One downside of being in PA instead of VA – longer drives to most of the hikes featured on hiking upward.com. I love this site and wish i had found it decades ago instead of last year, but i am grateful for it nonetheless. I have only done a few of the hikes on here, but i have read about most of them and have a list of at least 15 in the queue. In addition to all the great info from the group/original authors-hikers, every hike also has user reviews that provide great intel. My favorite feature is the solitude rating, but information about water availability is also key. I have found the maps, distances, directions, and elevations to be spot on. There are also more loop trails that are long enough to be done as overnights than i have found in any other place.

I have found some resources for Southeastern PA and the surrounding areas, though none i like as much as hiking upward. This is a similar group, but i have not put their intel to the test yet. The York hiking club has some good intel and led me to a few more established trails i did not know about. I did several hours of research checking out links and trails from these sources. To get a good idea of what the trails would really be like, i had three or four different maps/map sites open at the same time to try and compare and locate topo, route, terrain, road crossings, water, and frequency of city/town/roadway walking. SE PA is a mixed bag for hiking. There are lots of very rocky trails and on any trail, you cannot go more than 10 miles or so without at least a road crossing if not some miles walking on a curvy country road and then through an old town. It can be nice and has its own charm, but the drivers of cars are not expecting you to be walking on the road, and this is not the best way to travel with your dog. But, we all have to make do.

Several weeks ago, i was doing some gear research while also reviewing PA trail maps. Lucas and i loaded up the car for a double duty mission. The closest REI is in Timonium, Maryland. It is more of a haul than i would like, but there are a few very beautiful backroad ways to get there which balances out. It looked like there was a decent day hike possible right by one of the bridge crossings. We hit REI, finished the in-store research and bought 2 pair of REI Adventure pants. And really – how can you not buy ADVENTURE PANTS!!! The reviews were awesome and they felt great. I have been unsatisfied with my North Face zip-off pants since i bought them years ago. They breath OK, they feel OK, but they dry slowly due to the extra fabric that makes up the giant cargo pockets. While it is great to be able to carry lots in your pockets, the downside for hiking is – now you are carrying lots in your pockets! More than all of that it was the size. I bought a 30″ inseam and walked on the cuffs even in my boots. They run long. Jake had the same issue. And they have zippers at the bottom for easy on/off without removing your boots. Nice feature, but how to hem them? Anyway, the ADVENTURE PANTS are great. I have done two day hikes – one easy 7 miler and one moderate 10 miler as well as daily walks in the hood and some normal daily wear. The 30″ inseam is actually 30″ and i can wear the pants with sandals and not walk on them. They were both warm and not too hot while hiking and resistant to dirt when i sat on logs/ground. They dry much quicker than any other pants i have ever had. Out of the washing machine, hung inside, 3 hours. Probably would be 5 after hand-washing in a sink. Lite, pack small, wrinkle free – enough said.

We headed back to the bridge to check out the trails. I took a day pack with just the essentials and cold weather gear. Of course i put the ADVENTURE PANTS on in the parking lot, and we hit a nice trail through the woods, along the river, then up an old logging road through a rhododendron forest beside a beautiful stream with several deep pools and small waterfalls. A little ridge running led back down to the river and a view of the Holtwood Dam. I saw two trail names i recognized and it seemed like at least one of them would hug the river for many miles.

When i got home i had two things to research – decent maps and guides for The Mason Dixon Trail and somewhere to get at least one of my busted cameras repaired. I found the trail’s homepage and this highly detailed map:

Seriously though, they have some great info on their site and provide updates to the trail map/guide as needed and seem to actively and continually work to keep the trail clear and in decent shape as well as lobbying private landowners to get the trail moved off of dangerous roads. One location to purchase a full set of maps and guides is the local hiking shop Wildernest. The folks in there are nice. One of the part-time employees was in Physics with me and Jake back in the day. And this is actually where i bought my first real pack (my now torturous 7.5 pound pack of death).

I found a local camera repair shop as well and learned that for either camera, it would cost about $120.00 to fix. That is $10-$40 more than either of them cost. I bought a replacement camera for the newer model – so that i would at least end up with two batteries and two chargers.

I spent a few days going over my new maps and planning what to try next. It is getting better now, but two weeks ago it was still colder outside at night than i generally like, so i was looking at a day hike instead of an overnight. Also, it is not easy to determine where it is legal to camp along this trail. I imagine that most places it would be OK if you were quiet and respectful and used a stove instead of an open fire, but the trail is on private land, state game land (no camping), and city and county streets.  As a solo hiker, i have to look for good out-and-backs or loops.

Lucas and i both liked the area near Holtwood Dam, and i found a reasonable hike to try out using that as a launching point. I loaded my daypack to about 20 pounds to get some practice with the weight. We started at the dam, the turn around point from the last hike, and headed further up river (north). The first mile or so was right along the river bank and through some folks’ backyards. Then it turned uphill hugging another nice creek and rhododendron forest.

There was some more nice ridge running then up and down the rolling hills this part of PA is known for – largely following other streams.

At about 3.5 miles, we hit an old forest road that was covered in grass. It was like a smooth highway in the woods.

The next part of the trail was on gravel then paved roads. These had very little traffic, but like most roads with very little traffic, the cars were going about 50 over the blind hills. I decided to walk the rest of the road section to at least see what the next part of the trail looked like. Lucas had been doing great in the woods, but he seemed bored once we hit the road. Once we were in the open, the wind was intense and the effective temperature dropped. I had on many layers, a rain jacket that is great in the wind, a hat and gloves, and i was still cold.

As we approached the last road crossing before heading back into the woods, i saw an Amish farmer mucking his fields. This is stinky, but kinda cool to watch. Back in the barn, they load a flatbed wagon with poo. A team of horses pull the rig into the fields and the driver throws a lever and a simple gear using the motion of the axles turns a mechanism like an old paddle boat wheel that flings poo off of the wagon and onto the field.

After watching and taking some photos, i pulled out the map and saw that just across the road, the trail went along the edge of a field for about 70 yards before hitting the woods again. This section of the trail had minutes ago been coated in fresh poo. Lucas and i decided that this would be a fine place to turn around for the day.

We had a nice walk back to the car and Lucas slept very well after our 10 mile day.

I am still studying these maps to select the next sections to attack, but my next hike will be in good old VA at the beginning of May…

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I still have not set-up my self-hosted blog, so i can’t post video yet, but if you like video of dogs and water there is a good one of Lucas from this trip that i will post on Facebook (Mason Dixon Trail Stream Crossing), along with the full album of pics.

My history of hiking in PA has been less than ideal. I did get my first ‘real’ gear up here – pack, tent, and sleeping bag. I had also decided to do some exploration and maybe do large sections of the AT while living up here in 1996-7. I planned a two night trip to test my tent that did not go so great. Somewhere before reaching a spring, i lost the trail, wandered about for a few hours, ran out of water, and was generally not in the best of spirits by the time i got back to the trail. I just did an overnight and went home the next day.

– This is about to take a somewhat gross and potentially disturbing turn – though there is some redemption, or if not that, at least a happy ending.

Jake and i became good buds in 96 and talked about hiking a bunch. When the weather turned warm, we decided to hike together. Jake had not really done much hiking, but was interested. He was game to try anything, so i pulled out the maps for the old tent trial trip. We loaded Guthrey into the truck with our gear and headed out. About 45 minutes south of the trail, Guthrey fell out of the truck. I heard a sound like something being dropped into the bed of the truck and glanced in the rear-view mirror. I could see Guthrey still tumbling in the road. I pulled over and stopped the truck as quickly as i could, which took about an eighth of a mile, and ran back to Guthrey. From the minute i saw him in the mirror, i was screaming and crying and sobbing and yelling. I know that Jake did not know what was happening right away. He probably asked some questions and i may or may not have answered – i can’t remember that part of it.

I sat in the middle of the road with Guthrey and Jake stood a little bit away sort of watching for cars and also freaking out with me. Guthrey was alive, but it was obvious he was in terrible shape. I could not tell how many or which bones were broken, but i could see his head. There was a hole in his skull about the center line of his nose and an inch or so above the center line between his eyes. It was about as big around as a quarter and blood flowed from it in time with his heartbeats and his breath.

This happened right in front of someone’s house. The coolest old dude came out and talked to me. He was firm and kind at the same time. He told me i had to get out of the road. I said i could not leave my dog there, he might get hit by a car. I told him i was afraid to move him because i might sever his spine or do something else that might kill him. The man said that he would die for sure if we did nothing and anything had to be better than having us both get hit by a car. As carefully as i could, i picked Guthrey up and moved him into this man’s yard and laid him back down.

My sense of the timing and even the order involved in all of the steps is elastic at best. But i remember certain parts in great detail. I knelt gently petting Guthrey and still weeping. Jake was there and weeping. I can’t remember if he was also petting Guthrey, but i am sure that if he was not it was only for fear of hurting him. At some point, the man’s wife took Jake inside to use the phone and find a vet. Out of the blue, Guthrey opened his eyes, stood up smiling and tried to walk before he fell down and passed out again. That moment – hope, joy, fear, guilt, pain, wonder.

We were in a part of PA that neither of us was familiar with. I had been on this road once before on the previous hiking attempt. Jake had never been there. Jake had the directions. But we were both nervous and terrified. Then we had a new impossible moment. I told Jake he had to drive. The big blue truck is an automatic, and it is in a little better shape now (mechanically at least), but still it can be difficult to drive. Back in 1997 it was no picnic. The steering was beyond loose. There was so much play in the wheel you could turn it over 90 degrees in either direction and have no affect on the tires. Braking was also quite a chore. In part, it is a heavy truck with older brakes (i had not re-built them yet – so most of the braking system was from 1970). In part it was the way the engine was tuned. It was still in winter mode – rich mixture, advanced timing, high and fast idle. Even at a dead stop, you really had to stand on the brakes to keep the truck in place.

I don’t remember if Jake was 18 or 19 at the time, but it is suddenly his job to drive this giant old truck through unfamiliar curvy roads as rapidly and as safely as possible while looking for the turn for the vet which we had never seen. It may have been easier for me to drive, but i could not do it. I could not let go of Guthrey. If we got in a wreck with Jake driving and bad things happened, i knew i would not blame him at all. I could not face the possibilities of what could happen if i drove and we killed Guthrey getting him into Jake’s lap on the seat, or if he passed on the way to the vet. This all happened in the briefest of instants. Jake did not want to do it, but we did not argue or discuss it. We just did it. I picked Guthrey up and got in and Jake drove. Talking him through driving the truck gave us both something else to focus on instead of simply obsessing over Guthrey.

We knew we passed the vet, but we did not see it.  We saw Bob’s Market which was a sign that we had just missed it. We pulled into a gas station and Jake asked the guy who knew nothing. I told him we should just turn around and go to Bob’s market.  We did. Bob’s market is set back of the road about 100 yards to give room for the parking lot. When we were almost to the front of the store, i saw the vet across a field on another road. I jumped out with Guthrey in my arms and ran over. I can see the receptionist and some people waiting on the benches inside, but no one will help me. The doors are both “pulls”. I am covered in blood and carrying my 92 pound deeply wounded dog. I am kicking the doors (gently – but still) and probably yelling.

They come and lead me to the back. I get Guthrey on the table and am ushered away. Knowing that Guthrey is being looked after, i am still freaked out, but a little calmer as there is now truly nothing i can do. I head back out to find Jake and we hug and talk and cry and freak out some more. Oddly, i don’t remember much of the rest of the details about this time at the vet. I remember that i spent a lot of time in his cage in the back as he was in and out of consciousness from fatigue and stress and surgery and anesthesia, and lots of pain killers. I remember staying long after they were closed until the last person was leaving and locking up. I remember being there in the morning long before they opened but when the first person arrived to see to the animals. I remember Dr Bill coming to the back at some point and saying that i could take Guthrey home. He said that normally he would keep a dog under observation for much longer after a surgery like that, but that if i was going to sit in a little cage with him all day, i would probably watch him at home and not let him fall or hurt himself.

My parents were out of town. I think it was Spring Break, but i am not sure. I just know that Jake and I made a fort in the living room in front of the tv.  We built some walls of furniture and pillows and had lots of blankets on the floor. For a week, we stayed with Guthrey in the living room and petted him and watched movies. We took turns running errands just to have a chance to get out of the house. We would go out for the essentials, more movies and pizza.

Guthrey healed nicely and came back to his old self with a few small adjustments. We were close before, but our bond was deeper now. He had liked Jake before also. Guthrey was a big fan of anyone who wold actually go and walk with him, which few of my other friends ever did. But he was closer to Jake after this than i think any of us really imagined.

It was not too long after the surgery, definitely while he still had the metal plates in his legs, that he started jumping up into the back of the truck again. He loved riding back there, though i have never let him or any other dog ride back there again. It took something major like that for me to learn this particular lesson. In my defense, i was not throwing caution to the wind and blithely sticking my thumb in the eyes of the fates, i simply did not know any better. Every dog i can remember from growing up rode not just in the back of pick-up trucks, but in the back of that pick-up truck, and not just dogs. My sister and my cousins and i rode back there all the time. Growing up, my sister and i spent every summer down south either in Central Mississippi, or South Georgia, or both. At the end of summer, we rode back up north to Virginia, or Tennessee, or Kentucky. I remember sitting on the lowered tailgate for most of the way up the Natchez Trace and then the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I don’t know how to transition out of this and back to hiking in PA, so i am just gonna stop now and come back to it next go round.