ELK TRAIL 2024

2024 has been a terrible backpacking year for the Whytes. Crappy weather and numerous things out of our control resulted in very few nights in the backcountry. One of our Meetup groups posted a trip to the Elk Trail in North Central Pennsylvania. Leann and I signed up, she said we were going no matter what.

By 1867 Elk were no longer found in Pennsylvania. In 1913 a reintroduction project was started with 50 Rocky Mountain Elks from Yellowstone NP and 22 from a private reserve. The current population is 1,400 animals concentrated in Elk and Cameron counties. On previous trips we only saw 1 elk on the trail, you can count on seeing them eating the local gardens.

The day of the trip I received 2 calls and 2 e-mails from Pennsylvania stating there was a fire ban in effect. Crap, temps were dropping to the mid 30’s and a fire would help. Fires are nice for the heat but also for the comradery. I like swapping stories by the fire. I decided to take the Teepee so we could be warmer than just sitting outside in the dark.

The trip started with a Thursday night arrival to Hicks Run Campground. This would allow us to get a early start and maybe even spot some Elk. We did see 2 large bull Elks in a field before we got to camp.

We set up our tent before dinner and within 30 minutes the outside was soaked and it was not even raining. It must have been a weird combination of dew point and wet grass.

We woke up at 7 the next morning and the tent was soaked inside and out. Looks like I was carrying a wet tent for 9.5 miles. Breakfast, two cups of coffee and we were at the trail head by 9. It was nice to have a 13 minute drive from Hicks Run vs the 3+ hours from home.

On Friday we hiked 9.65 miles with an elevation gain of 1,972 feet from the trailhead to our campsite (#2).

The “Elk” gang: Rob, Sandy, Leann, yours truly. Rob organized the trip. He is an Encyclopedia of backpacking gear and trails. On this trip I learned that we had a common love of nesting backpacking gear, kindred spirits.

Leann on the climb up Bear Hollow.

This trail has lots of forest road walking. For once I was OK with this. The leaves were down and dry making the trails very noisy. Leaves also covered rocks which led to a lot of stubbed toes (for me).

It was a beautiful day for a hike

We crossed several food plots planted for Elk but no Elk.

This was a nice road for a hike. We were cruising along and went by our next turn. We realized our mistake and did the walk of shame.

Boulders on Dents Run, water flow was low. When doing this trail this is the point you have to make a major decision. Camp is actually at the top after a long climb and there is a spring near by. The only question: will the spring be running? So you either play it safe and fill up on water and carry it up a steep climb or roll the dice and hope the spring is running. If the spring is dry you have to go back to the bottom fill up on water and do the climb again. I was not feeling lucky so ended up carrying 8 liters of water to the top. You guessed correctly, the spring was running.

I do like this campsite since there are plenty of places to place your tent and it is very quiet. All we heard at night was one very loud coyote, distant Elk bugling and 2 barred owls conversing. It does not get much use so there is always a lot of wood ready to burn. Maybe next time.

The teepee came in handy on the first night, it was cold with some wind. The four of us were nice and warm inside.

On Day 2 Leann and I did a day hike towards Benezette for a total of 10 miles and elevation gain of 1,283 feet. Rob and Sandy did a longer hike to Benezette and had lunch at the Benezette Hotel. Rob said he had a brisket and cheddar sandwich, Sandy had a burger with blue cheese. Both options sounded better than my GORP.

My GORP recipe: pretzels stuffed with peanut butter, dried blueberries (or cherries), dark chocolate M&M’s. I can go for miles after having this for lunch. FYI: GORP stands for “good old raisins and peanuts”. Backpackers are passionate about their recipe. GOOGLE returns 136,000 results. Don’t bother, mine is the best.

On day 3 we hiked back to the cars. This was the reverse of day 1 but we did 9.09 miles and the elevation gain was 915 feet. Day 3 was shorter than day 1 since we did not miss any turns.

Rob has a Garmin In Reach satellite communicator and was able to verify the weather for day 3. Light rain was expected at 11:00 am with heavier rains to follow. He suggested we get on the trail by 7:30, good call.

Early start means breakfast in bed. I ate while water was boiling for coffee

We were warm in the tent as we sipped coffee and watched a nice sunrise. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.

Weather forecast called for rain at 11:00 but it actually started at 10:58. That is close enough for me. It was a light drizzle so we did not stop for rain gear. The rain was heavy for most of our ride home.

Thanks to Rob for posting this trip, it was great to spend a weekend in the woods.

HAPPY TRAILS, STEVE