PA Holtwood/Kelley's Run Out & Back - Amos' Big Ole' Nope

2022 52-Hike Challenge #3 was very close to home as the family is awaiting our newest arrival who will be born to these River Hills anytime now. As I stepped on to the muddy/icy/snow-encrusted/frozen trail at Holtwood, I imagined my son and daughter-in-law, who live just across the Susquehanna from where I was standing, taking their son out on this trail to go explore the ravine creek below or hike to the Pinnacle above. 

Across the high knoll.

Old Holtwood Road 

The old road is slowly closing over with vegetation but it made for a nice ice-free hard-surfaced walk down the contour of the hill to the mouth of Kelley's Run at the Susquehanna. Crossing over Kelley's Run below the deckless road bridge I missed a slick rock and went ankle-deep into the cold current. (I knew better coming back by hiking down to the railroad culvert and crossing there instead.)

Wet-boot crossing at the destroyed iron-span Old Holtwood Road bridge

My plans were to hike a seven-mile loop up the Blue Trail along the ravine then take the Red Trail to the Pinnacle and loop back, but about three miles up into the creek ravine I had to turn back as the trail had become very dangerous.  My hiking companion made the call to turn around and I'm glad I didn't argue with him.  Amos does not like cold feet or ice! Instead, we did an out-and-back of five miles. 

End of the road along Kelley's Run before the icy trail began.

I had my micro-spikes in my backpack and was prepared to put them on when, after crossing the creek again further up in the ravine, I stopped to consider what my big ole' coonhound would tolerate. He whined at the first cold creek crossing. He eyed the ice-covered boulders and icicles with his head lowered. At the second creek crossing he tried to turn around  midstream. He gave me the side-eye. 

Spray ice

We made our way around thick blobs of ice on the narrowing trail until we approached a very steep iced-over rock scramble. One slip and he or I or both of us would crash downhill into a sharp boulder outcrop with the icy creek twenty feet below us. Not the place for a misplaced foot or paw, he whined.  Not the time for a head-cracking swim, I said.  Nope, said Amos, and he stood on the last patch of leaf litter before the scramble. Not going up there. Good boy!  Instead, we carefully back-tracked and admired the ice formations with "curiosity stops" along the way.

Frozen cascades.

Almost back to the old road - this will have to wait for spring.

We'll try again another day.

We hiked back up Old Holtwood Road and said hello to hikers who were on their way down. They'd turned back along the ravine loop from above and were coming around the opposite loop to get a look at the mouth of the ravine and see how far they could go upstream. Amos gave them the side-eye too. I told them he'd made the decision to turn back and they laughed (giving him a lovely ear rub) and promised they wouldn't push past the icy rock scramble.