The Phoenix meetup group we belong to posted a trip to the Twin Lakes Trail in Allegheny. Both of us wanted to do this trip and since a shuttle is required we could not do it by ourselves. It was nice to actually be going on a new hike for a change.
We didn’t feel like getting up at 4:30 to meet the group Friday morning at the trail head so we decided to drive over after work and stay at Minister Creek Campground. The place was empty and we had a nice spot by the creek. We decided to take our old camper van and just sleep in it before the trip. We were not comfortable leaving Blaze for 2 nights.Nothing like a nice game of YAHTZEE to start the trip. Leann clobbered me.
DAY 1
We left a car on one end of the trail and drove to the start in Twin Lakes Recreation area. We pulled into the parking lot and noticed that bears were active in the area. The garbage can lid was destroyed. and there was trash everywhere. We talked to the volunteer and she said be careful on the trail: there is a big male bear wandering around and a mother with 3 cubs. As usual, we never saw them.
Miles 10.1, Ascent:1060 feet, Descent: 974 feet. It was suppose to be a 7mile day, nope.
The plan was to find camp after we crossed Route 66 and dropped back down to the creek. Good plan, in theory.Trail started out as a nice hike in the woods, some climbing to start but nothing too unusual for Allegheny.Chicken of the Woods, people love this stuff when it is young and before it gets woody. Tastes like chicken, apparently the best way to cook it is sauteed in butter. Butter makes everything taste good, only thing better is bacon.Lions Mane apparently this helps with dementia and anxiety.After crossing Route 66 we dropped down into Wolf Run. The plan was to hike a little farther and set up camp. 66 is a busy road and the thought of hearing trucks and cars was not appealing, didn’t matter since there was zero camp sots. We kept going and the trail climbed back to the ridge. It was not looking good.Camp 1, it didn’t appear that there was going to be any good spots so we set up in a section of Hemlock trees. We usually like to camp by creeks but that was not going to happen on this trip. We were able to find a little creek about a hundred yards down the trail so at least we had water. The two must have requirements for camping in the wilds: flat spot for your tent and a water source. One of the other hikers used a hammock so he did not even need a flat spot.Dinner, best part of the day.We did hear owls calling when we were in the tent: Saw Whet owl on the left and Barred Owl on the right. The Saw Whet is totally nocturnal and people rarely see them so they are mostly identified by the call. It was good to hear one, I had a smile on my face. The barred Owl is twice the size of the Saw Whet Owl and is commonly seen in the day. We see them at our local park and hear them often in the woods.
DAY 2
Miles 6.6, Ascent:459 feet, Descent: 732 feet. Short day today but the route finding and working around the beaver ponds made it seem longer.
There is lots of oil activity in the area, these are old pipes just laying by the trail.This bridge has seen better days but it did the job.Lunch spot, I decided to pack trail mix for lunches on this trip: pretzels filled with peanut butter, dried cherries and M&M’s. I like the dark chocolate M&M’s but could not find them.The trail was a little rough in spots, AKA non existent. Hard to tell but this is the trail.There is lots of beaver activity in the area, the trail was rerouted to avoid the ponds and flooded meadows they created. Not much of a trail here either.Camp 2: this was nicer than camp 1 and I was glad we stopped when we did. It was a long hike to another spot. Not sure why but I set up the tarp and was glad I did. It started raining in the middle of the night and rained all of the next day. So I am back to carrying the teepee since it has magic power to keep away the rain. The tarp is voted out of the pack.
We finished the Twin Lakes Trail and did the last 3 miles on the North Country Trail. The last 3 miles was the nicest hiking of the entire weekend.We hiked through the City of Rocks on the North Country Trail. I did not take many pictures due to the rain. This section reminded me of Virginia Kendall in Cuyahoga Valley NP.This shelter was a great place to get out of the rain and have lunch. Glad Leann spotted it because I would have walked right past it. Next stop: the car!
After completing a trail for the first time, I always ask one question: is it worth a return visit? Glad we went on the hike but I will not be back. The main issue for me was the lack of nice camping. I marked a lot of spots so I might take a look to see if there is a nice overnight trip to be had.
