Christy, Saucony, and I set an all time record this weekend by driving 10 hours (one-way) to do a 5 hour hike. Actually, we went to central PA to spend time with her family, but we were able to get in some hiking along the way.

After a 10 hour drive from Charlotte on Friday, we were ready to stretch our legs. We started early Saturday morning to try to beat the afternoon thunderstorms that were in the forecast.

Our first hike was a short walk on the Hoover Cross Country ski trail in the Quehanna Wild Area. It was an easy, flat hike through a pleasant forest featuring hemlock and white birch. It was neat to see the birch, since we don't have trees like those growing in NC. Along the way we passed Mayapples in bloom as well as several other types of wildflowers. We stopped for a break in a grassy, open forest before returning by the same route.

Our second hike of the day was on the Fred Woods Trail. It was, according to the map, trailguide, website, and trailhead sign, "a 5.5 mile loop, featuring scenic vistas and unique rock formations". If anything, this proved to an understatement. It ended up being an outstanding hike - one of my all time favorites.

We began the hike on an old jeep road, passing through a beautiful open forest knee deep in ferns. We quickly left the wide path for a narrow, rocky trail. Soon the woods closed in, and we were surrounded by mountain laurel just beginning to bloom. After an hour of hiking, we reached an outcrop with a nice view of the valley below (marked "scenic vista" on the map). We had lunch here, but wished we could return in another couple of months. We were surrounded by blueberry bushes, many of which had small white flowers.

We hiked on, and reached some huge, though not particularly unique, boulders. We climbed up on one, and enjoyed more fine views of Sinnemahoning Creek (a river by NC standards) 1000' below. While we rested, Christy killed at least 2 dozen gypsy moths. Only 50,000,000,000 to go.

After our break, we passed an odd junction. The blazed trail continued ahead, but also turned back to our left. We followed the trail ahead, since it was going the right direction. Soon, we entered the Maze. We had eagerly anticipated the "unique rock formations" all day, but didn't have a clue what awaited us. Soon we were in a narrow passage, with sheer rock walls stretched above us. We climbed over boulders, and squeezed between narrow rock walls. Frequently we explored side passages, which ocassionaly dead-ended, but sometimes connected to other routes. We also stopped to explore a cave, and marveled at trees growing out of the sides of the cliffs.

Eventually we escaped from the maze and continued our hike out. However, I couldn't ignore the funny feeling that we were moving in the wrong direction. "Christy, do you get the feeling we're going the wrong way?" "Yeah....", she replied, but continued hiking. I was serious. I got out my compass, and sure enough, we had done an about-face. Somehow, the maze had gotten us turned around. Oddly though, we were on a different, though blazed trail. A few minutes later, we ended up back at the original junction. The second time through, we monitored our direction more carefully. This time, we stayed on the right path.

The rest of the hike was uneventful, though it did rain a bit during the last 5 minutes of the hike.

We only saw two groups of people during the hike, which was nice considering the holiday weekend.

The rest of the day was quite exciting. That afternoon, we visited Sinnemahoning State Park. While we were there, we were lucky enough to view a family of bald eagles through a telescope. One adult and two "babies" were in the nest, although the babies already had wings several feet long.

That afternoon, we attempted to tube in Sinnemahoning Creek. It was a very short trip, as the frigid water (54 degrees!) had us running back to shore.

On Sunday, we went looking for elk. We saw serveral along the road, but found out later that one walked right by our camp while we were gone. On Monday, we saw one huge bull and 2 younger males on the drive out.

The drive back to NC turned out to be quite entertaining. We stopped at Bojangles for dinner, but they were out of chicken. How does that happen? That's like Krispy Kreme running out of donuts. Also, we passed an unusual road sign along I-81. It said simply "Leave Salem". Not Leaving Salem, and certainly not welcome to Salem. Either the folks in Salem have bad grammar, or they just aren't very friendly. So we amused ourselves with this (it was a long drive) by coming up with ideas for additions to the sign. Here's 4 choices, please vote now:

1) Leave Salem, while you still can.

2) Leave Salem, and don't come back.

3) Leave Salem, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

4) Leave Salem, or we'll burn you like a witch.

So please send your suggestions to the Salem, VA. chamber of commerce. They appreciate your feedback.

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