Another cold, icy day. Seems like we’ve had to deal with more ice this year then last year. We headed out to Locust Lake. We’ve had really great weather lately. Mostly blue sky and not the typical winter gray that I remember from last year. We hiked a loop that took us along Locust Creek, up to Broad Mountain then back down. After the hike we stopped to enjoy the icy beach. I’ve never see the beach in the summer and wondered how crowded it gets. Well, no one was here today! So we sat for a while and looked out across the frozen lake watching the ice fisherman before heading home.
Saturday morning we had a lovely walk around Tuscarora State Park. The temperatures were below freezing again, but there was no wind and the day was sunny. We hiked the Spirit Trail which we had done in the summer when it was filled with wildflowers. Today it was covered in a dusting of snow and patches of ice. The trail starts off following along the lake for about a mile ascending through an oak and hemlock forest. We could see views of frozen Tuscarora Lake below and also hear the water shifting under its thick coating of ice. It makes an eerie sound; kind of hard to describe. We then took the loop south heading back down towards Locust Creek where we hiked in and out of rhododendron tunnels. Parts of the creek were frozen solid and others had a coating of ice above with water flowing underneath. We passed by the Spirit Tree which is covered in a green coating of moss and mushrooms, even in the winter. We made our way to a newly added bridge and crossed over the creek to begin another ascent. At the top we came to a clearing with lovely views and an evergreen forest. Before continuing onto the second loop (the trail is actually a figure eight if you look at it on a map), we explored a side trail which ascended the mountain again. I believe would have taken us to the Crow Trail. We’ll have to explore that one on another day. The trail then dropped us back down for more creekside hiking. We crossed another bridge over the creek that had been broken by a fallen tree. When we arrived back at the trailhead, we took a walk down to the lake. By this time there were ice fisherman and ice skaters taking advantage of this beautiful winter’s day. It was a nice contrast to when we had visited over the summer.
It was another bitter cold morning, but I wasn’t about to give up a perfectly beautiful day outdoors. Today we headed to Schuylkill County to visit Locust Lake State Park. Temperatures were in the 20s again and the winds still hadn’t let up much since yesterday. We parked in the lot on the south east side of Locust Lake which was frozen solid. There were a couple of ice fishermen in the lot getting ready to head out onto the lake to try their luck. We geared up and headed west on the paved bicycle trail that would take us to the trailhead and into the woods. As we walked, we passed by the campground which I imagine would be absolutely beautiful (and also very crowded) in the summer. As we approached the trailhead I could see Locust Creek coming into view. There was a dusting of snow on the ground and the water shimmered in the morning sunshine. We crossed over a foot bridge and onto the Oak Loop Trail which followed along the beautiful Locust Creek. The sunlight cast a warm evergreen glow on the hemlocks above us and the icicle covered cascades sparkled as we hiked along the edge of the creek. This was a beautiful section of trail. I must have stopped every 5 feet to snap a photo. The trail had interpretive signs pointing out the trees and different vegetation. At about 1.7 miles the trail started to lead us up and out of the evergreen forest and into the hardwoods. It then made a beeline up the east side of Broad Mountain on a fairly steep grade. I was happy for the climb to keep the blood flowing on this chilly winter day. Along our route we passed an interesting rock outcropping. We stopped here to check it out before continuing. The trail eventually looped back east, and we descended down some switchbacks until we arrived back at the creek. Before leaving we decided to walk around the lake on the Bicycle Trail. By this time there were a few more people out braving the cold. It was a beautiful day and this was a very beautiful trail.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has a very well organized layout of Pennsylvania’s State Parks and Forests. The parks can be searched by region and each park has its own map and recreational guide in a downloadable pdf. I’ve been using these resources to find different trails to explore since I’m new to the area. This week I chose Tuscarora State Park. The stunning Tuscarora Lake sits at the foot of Locust Mountain with Locust Lake State Park being just six miles away. The trail I chose today was called “The Spirt of Tuscarora Trail” which was a little under 5 miles. It’s quite an amazing trail. Absolutely stunning scenery with thick, lush forest and wetlands. I still can’t get over how green it is in Pennsylvania. Part of the trail is carpeted in bright green moss with fern on either sides. It looked so magical. With a soft wind blowing through the trees, I truly was enjoying the morning. The single track trail can be done in a figure eight loop which took me up a few steep sections of rhododendron and then down through low rhododendron tunnels. I can imagine how beautiful they must look when in full bloom. The forest here consists of several species of oak, eastern hemlock, white pine, sycamore, birch, maple, ash and tulip trees. The trail looped me down to the edges of Locust Creek where there were late season wildflowers still in bloom. One of the highlights of this trail is the “spirit tree” which stands creekside in all his moss covered glory. I believe this tree was hit by lightening and his shape now takes on a mossy covered goat head. As I took my time taking in all of this great scenery, I saw a good number of very tiny toads hopping about as I walked. This really was a lovely trail. I walked it very early in the morning and did not see a soul. I will surely come back again to this magical place in the future to explore more of these wonderful trails.
