This sweet little sneak-away for two days hiking a short section of the Mid-State Trail (MST) had me and my pup Amos camping at Poe Paddy State Park. We hiked (slowly for Amos) about four miles of this wild and remote trail mostly on an old forest road and railroad bed, but we did also did a three mile section of rocky uphill/downhill, too. This experience cemented for me the desire to hike this 300+ mile Northeast-Southwest trending trail through the heart of the Pennsylvania Appalachians/Alleghenies but the hard reality is that my seven-year old hiking pup would probably not be able to hike it with me. It's a tough trail for dogs and watching Amos struggle with paw-painful sections that included sharp road gravel and steep, exposed outcrops made the case that this is a trail I'll be careful about including him on. Still, he thoroughly enjoyed long soaks in Big Poe Creek and shady snoozes on his (new to him) Big Agnes expedition camp pad I got for $4 at a thrift store.
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| Our remote basecamp |
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| Amos on his Big Agnes pad |
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| A respite from the rocks |
Ok, now that we've had our Amos fix, I'll say that camping at Poe Paddy was a remote experience. All roads leading to this campground, one of the smallest state parks in the PA system at only 28 acres, are gravel and not maintained during winter months. I spent half an hour+ on gravel making my way to Poe Paddy named for the two mountains that meet in this gap. Once I made it there, it was blissfully quiet and with so few campers in late August that I had the place almost all to myself. I did meet three people bike-packing who were staying in the small Adirondack shelters for the night and a lone Mid-State Trail hiker tenting by the creek, all of whom were exhausted but happy to have a little luxury for a night, even though that luxury included only (nice) pit toilets and potable water from two water pump stations.
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| Crossing Penn's Creek on the MST |
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| Rebuilt (2015) Poe Paddy RR tunnel ... |
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| ... includes access for bats only above the people-part... |
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| ...dividing the original tunnel for two separate user groups! |
Our first hike covered only about four miles for an out-and-back on mostly railroad ballast after crossing through the Poe Paddy Tunnel. On our way back, Amos decided the tunnel was cool enough to rest his aching paws and took a nap on the smooth cement surface. It's not a very long tunnel, so no need for a flashlight as you can see the other end. It was a well-designed rebuild with a bat hibernaculum above the human passage. I made a note to think about booties for Amos, if he would tolerate them.
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| Devonian redbeds in steep anticline |
The folded Allegheny Mountains of the Central Pennsylvania Wilds Region are part of the long Appalachian Mountain range that extends from Maine to Georgia and northern Alabama, an ancient mountains range that formed when tectonic plates collided to form the Supercontinent Pangea. In this section of the range the folded sedimentary layers seem extreme, almost fluid as pressures forced marine deposited siltstone, sandstone red beds, shales, and limestone almost vertical like the face of a steep wave, into an anticline. I stopped to admire all the outcrops while Amos sniff-tested the beautiful talus-flood plain alongside Penn's Creek. Big Poe Creek which ran past our campsite and into Penn's Creek is the site of the magnificent Green Drake Mayfly hatch in the spring. I made a note to come back for that!
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| Penn's Creek |
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| Talus and flood plain |
Our second hike of the day included a slog up the cobbly/talus/rutted unmaintained road that once led from the now extinct Poe Mills Village to town of Coburn. We found the trail near the crest of the mountain and took it to the summit at Raven Knob (1480'). Along the trail we found fresh bear scat and so many late summer blossoms like the delicate Panicled Trefoil and beautiful patch of Silverrod on a wet seepage outcrop that included lush mosses and lichen. The woods were filled with Bluestem Goldenrod and White Wood Aster as well as the foliage of Pink Ladies Slipper orchid and Round Lobed Hepatica.
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| Flower rich wooded summit |
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| White Wood Aster |
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| Bluestem Goldenrod |
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| Forkmoss |
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| Brocade Moss |
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| Cladonia sp. (lichen) |
An open patch just below the summit crest came with a beautiful cool breeze. I noticed yellow-tinged forest trees which is either a drought or heat response for water conservation or the beginnings of fall colors. It could have been either or both. Raptors were cruising at summit height heading south including an Osprey, a Peregrine (far overhead), Coopers and Sharp-Shinned Hawks, and a Broad Winged Hawk.
A lone hiker passed us coming up on the old road as we headed back. He had just come across a big Copperhead sunning on the mossy edge of the trail where Amos was walking to save his paws from the gravel and loose cobble. "Biggest one I've ever seen, but really chill and friendly." We didn't see it except for a very small and quick Brown Earth Snake. Once at the bottom of our three-mile out-and-back scramble he turned right into Big Poe Creek from the campsite and soaked his paws. Poor boy.
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| Big Poe Creek |
I felt really guilty about this rocky-double-day hike that seemed for Amos more of a painful slog. So, I took him over to the nearby Poe Valley State Park (3 miles away) the next morning for a little ramble on their nature trail. He looooooved it. So much soft mud and springy pine needle-covered trail to sink his paws into. Easy access to the creek and lots of shade. My seven year old hiking hound's experience on the MST made me think hard about when not to bring the big guy along. It tugs at my heart to leave him home, but for his own safety and mine (he's 90 pounds so I can't carry him out injured) if I'm to do the MST, I'll have to really research what sections are best for him. I may not have the ability timewise to do a 30-day thru-hike which is what I really want to do, but I have to be realistic. So in my trusty little notebook I wrote "Start planning MST day hikes/loops/2-3 night overnights. Be mindful of Amos."
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| Easy on the paws at Poe Valley S.P. |
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| Nature Trail at Poe Valley State Park |
Notes:
Aug 6, 2024. Purple Lizard Maps Adventure Blog post by Katie Anspach. "
Orange Blazes - Hiking the Mid-State Trail" https://www.purplelizard.com/blogs/news/orange-blazes-hiking-the-mid-state-trail
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