Haggis
Appalachian Ridgerunner
With Temps in the 70s, the leaves in full color, and the skies clear and blue, the family and I decide to skip firewood and enjoy what is possibily the last nice day up here in NW PA. We loaded up the LJ and drove about an hour and a half to Elk and Cameron counties to view the leaves and the PA elk herd. It would be great day for foliage but with the warm temps and clear skies elk veiwing would be iffy.
We headed into Medix Run (this is in the Saint Marys area of the state) and drove up 555 to Benezette and then turned left onto the Winslow Hill Rd to go up to the Winslow Elk Viewing Areas. As to be expected the traffic was thick with Lookers & Bikers, all out enjoying the day. Just a mile up from the Benezette Hotel we saw two young Bulls on the side of the road. After negotiating the parked cars we headed up to the Viewing Area. The parking lot was full, and there were no elk at either of the areas. Though at the second area, PA Game Commission one, we crossed the road and went hiking into an old reclaimed strip mine and found a huge elk trail, that looked more like a cow path. We jumped back into the Jeep headed around the loop and then jumped onto Township RD 474 (dirt) and cut back down to 555. Then turned to the east and headed towards Driftwood stopping at a couple of other viewing areas. Still no more elk.
Turning off from 555 at Driftwood and onto Wykoff Rd (heading south) we came across a sign for the Jerry Lick Nature Area. Taking a right hand turn, we headed down a small blacktop road that turn into a dirt Forest Service road, Jerry Run RD. This is a cool road very narrow, with a cliff drop off running along with Sinnemahonig Creek, then the road turns south and follows Upper Jerry Run. There are some real nice camp sites along this road with one area that could handle several vehicles or tents. There had been no traffic on it for at least a couple of weeks, which is funny since it's hunting season here.
On this leg of the road, I managed to stick my LJ for the first time. Heading up a steep narrow section, I saw two Dodge Rams heading downhill and since they were'nt stopping I started backing down looking for a pull off spot. I thought I had found a good spot, back down past it and then pulled forward into it. Unknown to me, the spot was a stone culvert that had a dead fall over it and with the leaves covering it, it looked solid. Until my wheel snapped through and dropped me down onto the passenger side frame, the passenger side tire hanging in the air. That LJ went for that culvert like a woodchuck running from a coyote. Since I only have the factory Tru-Trac in the rear it wasn't going anywhere. The guy in the first Dodge got by me and I hooked up my snatch strap to him and with a good tug, the Jeep popped right out. No damage other than a few scratches on the frame. Then it was back on the trail. Though I think the Jeep earned its name, Woodchuck, if it sticks.
At the end of Jerry Run RD we hit Three Runs RD and turned west. This is a wide gravel road that travels thru Quehanna Wilds Area. After travel a few miles we turn left on to Two Tower Rd, this is a two track logging road with washouts and some projecting rocks. Here we found a elk food plot that the elk were ripping apart (though there were no elk there at the time). We followed this road for some miles, but since it was running in the opposite direction than the way that we wanted to go, we turn around and headed back to Three Runs RD. We followed this out to the Quehanna highway (blacktop). We explored several other dirt tracks in the Moshannon State Forest through the rest of the day though there were alot more that we would have liked to run.Though we didn't see any more elk, we did spend about six hours on two track roads and only passed two trucks all day.
This would be a great site for a fall Expo East meet, lots of good two track to run, Elk veiwing, and Sunnemahonnig creek looks like it would be great to canoe or fish for small mouths or trout. If anybody is interested, let me know here and I'll do some researching and more exploring and set up a date.
This area is worth checking out. Even though it's so close This is my first time in this area and we'll head back to do some more woods running.
Dagnabbit, photos won't upload, I'll post some later.
We headed into Medix Run (this is in the Saint Marys area of the state) and drove up 555 to Benezette and then turned left onto the Winslow Hill Rd to go up to the Winslow Elk Viewing Areas. As to be expected the traffic was thick with Lookers & Bikers, all out enjoying the day. Just a mile up from the Benezette Hotel we saw two young Bulls on the side of the road. After negotiating the parked cars we headed up to the Viewing Area. The parking lot was full, and there were no elk at either of the areas. Though at the second area, PA Game Commission one, we crossed the road and went hiking into an old reclaimed strip mine and found a huge elk trail, that looked more like a cow path. We jumped back into the Jeep headed around the loop and then jumped onto Township RD 474 (dirt) and cut back down to 555. Then turned to the east and headed towards Driftwood stopping at a couple of other viewing areas. Still no more elk.
Turning off from 555 at Driftwood and onto Wykoff Rd (heading south) we came across a sign for the Jerry Lick Nature Area. Taking a right hand turn, we headed down a small blacktop road that turn into a dirt Forest Service road, Jerry Run RD. This is a cool road very narrow, with a cliff drop off running along with Sinnemahonig Creek, then the road turns south and follows Upper Jerry Run. There are some real nice camp sites along this road with one area that could handle several vehicles or tents. There had been no traffic on it for at least a couple of weeks, which is funny since it's hunting season here.
On this leg of the road, I managed to stick my LJ for the first time. Heading up a steep narrow section, I saw two Dodge Rams heading downhill and since they were'nt stopping I started backing down looking for a pull off spot. I thought I had found a good spot, back down past it and then pulled forward into it. Unknown to me, the spot was a stone culvert that had a dead fall over it and with the leaves covering it, it looked solid. Until my wheel snapped through and dropped me down onto the passenger side frame, the passenger side tire hanging in the air. That LJ went for that culvert like a woodchuck running from a coyote. Since I only have the factory Tru-Trac in the rear it wasn't going anywhere. The guy in the first Dodge got by me and I hooked up my snatch strap to him and with a good tug, the Jeep popped right out. No damage other than a few scratches on the frame. Then it was back on the trail. Though I think the Jeep earned its name, Woodchuck, if it sticks.
At the end of Jerry Run RD we hit Three Runs RD and turned west. This is a wide gravel road that travels thru Quehanna Wilds Area. After travel a few miles we turn left on to Two Tower Rd, this is a two track logging road with washouts and some projecting rocks. Here we found a elk food plot that the elk were ripping apart (though there were no elk there at the time). We followed this road for some miles, but since it was running in the opposite direction than the way that we wanted to go, we turn around and headed back to Three Runs RD. We followed this out to the Quehanna highway (blacktop). We explored several other dirt tracks in the Moshannon State Forest through the rest of the day though there were alot more that we would have liked to run.Though we didn't see any more elk, we did spend about six hours on two track roads and only passed two trucks all day.
This would be a great site for a fall Expo East meet, lots of good two track to run, Elk veiwing, and Sunnemahonnig creek looks like it would be great to canoe or fish for small mouths or trout. If anybody is interested, let me know here and I'll do some researching and more exploring and set up a date.
This area is worth checking out. Even though it's so close This is my first time in this area and we'll head back to do some more woods running.
Dagnabbit, photos won't upload, I'll post some later.
