Hiking and Driving

Ken and I were up at 7:45 after a good night's sleep.  It was another gorgeous weather day with temperatures in the low 80's and plenty of sunshine with a nice breeze.  A perfect day for another hike!

We sat outside with Chuck and Melissa enjoying our coffees and chai and chatting about all kinds of things!  Then Ken brought out an exercise DVD from the Biggest Loser and we played it outside and did the 20 minute exercise program that has you walk a mile while doing different steps and using hand weights while doing it.  We didn't have weights, so the 4 of us used cans of beans.  It's good the CG is fairly empty and no one was watching.  We were a sight to behold!!!!   Around 10:45 we decided it was time for breakfast - yes!!!!!  Ken and I made omelets and had fresh fruit which we enjoyed eating outside. 

 After cleaning up, we packed some snacks and drinks and by 11:38 (Ken's time) we were on our way to Loyalsock State Forest, about 4 miles from the CG. It got its name from the Loyalsock Creek, which winds for over 60 miles through the forest.   We parked near Dutchman Falls and started our hike on the Haystacks Trail which joined with the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad Trail.  Eventually we joined with the Loyalsock Trail down to the Haystack Rapids where the attraction is the Haystack Mounds. 

It was a gorgeous, well-marked trail

Almost looked like coral growing on the side
of the tree.  Unique!

It was a wide railroad bed for part of the trail!

And then we arrived at the Haystacks!

It was a beautiful setting.....

with rocks everywhere!

Huge rocks plus a peaceful little waterfalls!

We enjoyed sitting on these boulders, building a cairn (stone marker) and playing in the water.  These mounds or rocks continue to puzzle geologists. While most prominent at the Haystack Rapids the associated rock formation can be found in Sullivan, Lycoming, and Wyoming counties, but there are no similar formations in the entire country.  The rock formation is purely sedimentary. What this all means is that it is most likely when the geologic process was forming what is now the subsurface of Pennsylvania, some large catastrophic event occurred that deposited this sediment here and nowhere else - probably a large tsumani or a meteor striking southern Canada and throwing debris to Pennsylvania. 

We enjoyed walking on these large boulders!

It was also a great place to relax.....

and play in the water!

A refreshing time on a hot day!!

Time to leave my "mark" in this area so I began building
a cairn.  I have done this numerous places on our journeys!

The finished Cairn!  Now they know I
have been here!

The Haystacks have remained as an obstacle to the waters of the creek, especially to loggers at the turn of the century.  Log jams as high as 3 stories were reported.  The lumbermen attempted to blast the boulders to allow logs to move freely but the mighty Haystacks prevailed!  Many men lost their lives when trying to dynamite these boulders.

We left Haystack Rapids and took the Loyalsock Trail along the Loyalsock Creek to return to the parking area.  The last part of the trail was steep and rocky and we were tired by the time we returned to the car after walking about 5 miles.

So many beautiful ferns along the trail!

From there we drove to World's End to their picnic area to have snacks or lunch, whichever you preferred.  Then we treated ourselves to $1.00 baby ice cream cones, which were an extremely generous scoop.  The lady working there, who has lived her whole live in this area, recommended that we go to the 2 scenic vistas and then another area where she thought we would see bears.  Black bears are very prevalent in this area, or so they say (whoever they are!).

A wonderful place to rest and relax!

The vistas were beautiful and the rock garden area amazing.  We left there and drove to the nearby development that she thought we would see bears, but we had no luck.  Not for the lack of trying.  We drove and drove, and drove, but there were no bears anywhere!!!!!  

It was a bit hazy, but this is the Loyalsock Canyon Vista!

The Happy Foursome Again!

The view here is spectacular looking at the Endless Mountains!

Exploring The Rock Garden which is a blocky
maze of rock composed of very hard conglomerate
 and sandstone that has been eroded and frost heaved to create
 the deep, narrow crevices......

 ...and deep they are!!!!!!

This is the High Knob Vista with more views of
the Endless Mountain Region!

We arrived at the CG around 6:30 and decided to shower and then get together to play games.  The women won 2 games of Pinochle and the men finally won a game - Skip-Bo.  It was a fun and exercised filled day.  Looking forward to a more relaxing day tomorrow, our final day here in the Rickett's Glen area.