by Wanda Shirk, President, KTA Board of Directors
The beloved 85-mile Potter Country loop known as the Susquehannock Trail System (STS) is a "must-do" for any serious Pennsylvania hiker. The logistics will all be handled for hikers on 2016's STS Spring Slackpack, from Friday, April 29, to Friday, May 6.
The seven days on the trail will involve moderate challenge and distances averaging twelve miles a day. Highlights range from the notorious "Spook Hollow" to the beautiful Hammersley Pool, which has been featured in Backpacker magazine.
The week will kick-off with dinner at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 29, at the home of Wanda Shirk, president both of KTA and of the Susquehannock Trail Club. Hikers will get a satisfying breakfast and trail lunch each day, and showers, dinner, and plenty of time to relax in the evenings.
Cost of the slackpack is $525 for the week. To register, contact Wanda at wshirk49@outlook.com or 814-848-7944.
Participation capacity is six hikers for the daily shuttles to trailheads.
2014's Slackpack Recap
The Susquehannock Trail System (STS), at 85 miles, is the ninth-longest of Pennsylvania’s wilderness footpaths. Kathleen and Don Engle, Carl Windle, and Wanda Shirk hiked the trail, averaging 12 miles a day, in conjunction with KTA’s first slackpack of 2014. Five local hikers also joined the group on different days, adding to the happy mix and camaraderie.
The STS designers had a happy sense of humor, as illustrated by the sign “Cardiac Climb—Almost Halfway” posted about 300 feet above the base elevation before a 660-foot ascent to the Cherry Springs Fire Tower Trail on a northeastern section of the trail. Another favorite feature is Spook Hollow, appropriately marked with the warnings “Keep to Center of Trail. Stay Within Sight of Companions. Refrain From Looking Back. Do Not Try to Run.” The hollow completely lived up to its name, with its dark, gloomy, foreboding forest of Norway spruce creaking with the eerie sounds of wind high in the trees as the hikers passed through.
Thousands of spring beauties and sprinkles of hepatica, violets, yellow violets (oxymoron?), trilliums, and less exciting flowers like coltsfoot and dandelions brightened the trail and hillsides. Many patches of bright green leeks offered soup-starting material, and Wanda made a couple batches of Hammersley leek soup from a harvest in the Hammersley Wild Area section of trail, where the group ate lunch by the famous Hammersley Pool on Thursday.
From the safety of their vehicle, the hikers spotted a couple of black bears on two morning shuttles. Some muddy sections of trail contained multiple, perfect tracks of bear paws for photographing. Near Ole Bull State Park, a deer stood grazing by a springhouse and never bothered to run or walk off, posing endlessly for pictures until the hikers finally moved on. Masses of frog eggs were clustered in ponds in two places, heralding new life, while a deer skull and a pile of turkey bones and feathers in Hogback Hollow told of the demise of other lives.
Bits of history along the trail included an old, stone dynamite shed and the nineteenth-century foundation of Ole Bull’s intended “castle” where the failed Norwegian colony was located. Beautiful valleys and interesting bridges added interest to the well-blazed trail, while the occasional steep ascent or descent, the not-so-occasional ford of a stream on logs or rocks, and a couple of somewhat rainy days added challenge but never deterred the group. Unlike some Pennsylvania trails, the STS is seldom rocky, and the path is generally well cleared and easily traversed.
The first two days of the slackpack were in conjunction with KTA’s Spring Hiking Weekend, so the slackpackers stayed at the Penn Wells Lodge and Hotel in Wellsboro. There, they enjoyed both the great food and the Saturday night KTA meeting featuring Joanna and Bart’s tale of adventure as the first thru-hikers of the Great Eastern Trail. The next five nights were hosted at Wanda’s house, with various members of the Susquehannock Trail Club preparing and catering the evening meals. The great food included lasagna on two nights and pot roast, pork roast, and pork chops on each of the other nights—always with salad, side vegetables, bread, and delicious desserts. Accompanying the meals were stories, laughs, and the general happiness of contentment when super meals follow a satisfying day of hiking.
On this slackpack, all the hikers were retirees in their sixties making the most of their health and fitness and the great opportunities afforded by KTA and Pennsylvania’s trails. For Kathleen and Don, the STS was their first long-trail hike, while Carl is a veteran of the Appalachian Trail and many other long trails. Wanda was making her fourth circuit of the STS in addition to having hiked or backpacked many other wilderness trails.
Everyone agreed that the week was fantastic and will be remembered as a personal highlight of 2014.
Watch for more opportunities to slackpack with KTA—wonderful times to make friends and memories on the footpaths of Penn’s woods.