Date: 2013-09-27
To: Shakedown Hike 1 Of 3
Miles today: 0.0

Last week, I headed to Moshannon State Forest in central Pa, for my first of three shakedown hikes. In the county of Centre, near the town of Phillipsburg there is a fairly new trail, completed in 1998, called the Allegheny Front trail. The trail is a 42 mile long loop.The purpose of this hike was to test and check out my backpacking equipment, and to make adjustments to my gear while I still have the time. I left on Wednesday September 18th, with plans to spend Wednesday night in a Hotel, after I checked out the trail head so that I could get the lay of the land and get an early Thursday morning start.I researched hotels for the town closest to the trailhead, which is Phillipsburg, before I left home. The hotel rooms averaged about $60 a night, so you know you can't expect much for that rate. I have been in hotels that charged that rate and were very well kept, however, most of the reviews for the hotels in Phillipsburg were very negative. The review that finally made me realize I needed to go to another town to seek lodging read as follows: "Do not stay in this hotel, it should be torn down and destroyed, if you have a car sleep in it, if you don't sleep in the street".State College , Pa is about twenty miles away from the trailhead, so I went there and booked a room at the Marriott Hotel, enabling me to use my Marriott Reward Points to pay for the room. The main Penn State College campus is only two miles away from this hotel. It's a nice town and so was the room and everyone that I had dealings with was very pleasant.At 5:00 AM on Thursday morning I got up and headed to the local Denny's for breakfast. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal knowing it was the last good meal I would have until I returned home in three days. I was at the trailhead by 07:30 and after attaching the SPOT to the top of my pack, off I went. By 07:45, I was hiking.At home I loaded up my pack to 35 pounds to approximate what it will be on the AT. I added more food and articles than normal, like a radio, GPS, and my Buck Knife. I take the SPOT whenever I hike solo so my wife can see my travels on the computer through Google Maps. I give her a map of the hiking trail, my itenary, and the address and phone number of the Forest Ranger, and the SPOT sends back coordinates of my location. If I were to push the help button she would call the Ranger and give him the coordinateness. I also have a man down" emergency button and if I push that one, the rescue services people will come. I took accident insurance out on that button. There is also a tracking button and as I hike along it sends out signals to the computer and, in almost real time, my wife can tell when I stop for a break or when I am back at the trailhead parking lot. This all happens even with no cell phone service.The weather was sunny and cool as I left the trailhead. I hiked 15 miles to my evening camp and set up. It gets dark early way down in the valley, so I had my headlamp on as I put up my tent, and cooked supper, and hung my bear bag, and gathered and treated water for the next morning. I also read the next days hiking data, and used today's old pages to start a campfire. I read my Bible by the campfire and listend to the forest noises. There was a full moon, so there was a little bit of natural light.When I got up in the middle of the night, I had problems opening the rainfly zipper and it broke. I also noticed the forest was very quiet and I don't understand why. No crickets chirping, and no frogs bellowing. I looked at the sky and the moon was full and the sky was clear.In addition to the problem with the rainfly, I have decided that I am also going to take my Therm A Rest Z Lite Sol sleeping pad with me on my next backpacking trip, because the sleeping mattress I have pictured in the gear list is starting to feel like I am sleeping on an ironing board. There is very little room to move side to side. The Z Lite Pad doesn't pack too well, it's like carring an accordion, but blowing up the mattress and then packing it away every morning could be more work than it's worth.On my second day of hiking, I completed 17 miles to get to my campsite. This put me 10 miles from the finish line for my third and final day. Again I had to use my headlamp to see, to do all the work around camp. I noticed in the middle of this night, the forest was back to being very noisy. The crickets and the frogs made the place sound like a rock concert in progress.I was out of bed every morning at 6:AM. This second morning I waited for the heaviest part of the rain to stop. My tent inside stayed dry. I had to work with my headlight on untill about 7:AM and by 8:AM I was hiking down the trail. I was one mile from the finish line when I saw the first hikers of the entire trip. Five girls heading out to do the exact same trail I was about to complete but in the reverse direction. I completed the 10 miles at 12:30. The complete trail was well maintained and blazed, in my opinion.It is always a good feeling when you first see your vehicle back at the trailhead, and it has not been stolen, or vandalized, or the porcupines did not chew through your break lines.In the parking lot I cleaned up a little bit, put on clean clothes, and I was on my way back home. The whole 42 mile backpacking trip lasted 2 1/2 days and according to my GPS, a total elevation gain of 5000+ feet. It started raining, and I thought of the girl hikers just starting out. On the way home I ate three double cheeseburgers, one large fry, one large coke, one pineapple soda, and two liters of water. That evening at 7PM I was eating dinner with Nancy.I contacted Big Agness, and they are happy to make the repairs to my rainfly zipper at minimal cost or at no charge. They will have it back before my next backpacking trip next month.That's it for now friends, physically I feel good, and I had no physical problems on this hike, and only minor adjustments to my gear.Next up is West VA in the Dolly Sods Wilderness area in Monongahela National Forest October, 11, 12, 13, and 14 with the Appalachian Mountain Club. After this backpacking trip, I will be taking a week off to visit my sister and her family in Georgia and my children and grandchildren in Florida.Until we meet again, may good luck be your friend in whatever you do, and may trouble be always a stranger to you.