ABOUT THE PARK: DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.25971, -77.10411
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| Parking is very limited at Scott Farm - only one spot left after I parked at 9:00 AM. Parking is not allowed on the grass. |
TRAIL MAPS:
HIKE DISTANCE: 12.2 miles
THE HIKE:
Anyone who has hiked the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania knows how rocky it is. Amazingly, this entire section was easy-going, smooth trail with very minimal elevation changes.
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| From the parking lot walking back out the right side of the horseshoe drive towards the bridge. |
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| The AT northbound goes under the bridge; the AT southbound goes over the bridge. We are heading south. |
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| Conodoguinet Creek |
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| Just after the bridge, a long boardwalk ... |
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| ... along Conodoguinet Creek. |
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| Belted Kingfisher |
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| The boardwalk becomes dirt trail that comes out on a field. |
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| There are two of these stiles to climb up and over. |
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| After crossing Bernheisel Bridge Road ... |
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| ... another field to cross. |
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| This comes back out on Bernheisel Bridge Road where to the left ... |
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| ... crosses a bridge over ... |
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| ... I-81. |
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| The other side of the bridge the trail veers right towards that small building. The sign in the window said CLOSED but when I peaked in to see what it was, the door opened. |
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| So I snapped a quick shot, closed the door and continued on. |
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| The trail then veers to the right around that farm. |
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| The entire route alternates between trail through the woods and trail over fields. |
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| Coming up on a pedestrian bridge ... |
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| ... over Route 11. |
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| Live railroad tracks to cross. Brodie does actually look both ways. |
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| A little bit of a road walk along Appalachian Drive ... |
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| ... to a bridge over ... |
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| ... the Pennsylvania Turnpike. |
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| Back into the woods to the right after the bridge. There is quite a bit of traffic noise along this route with all of the major road crossings but that was actually a blessing. There was, as it typical in Pennsylvania, gunfire from a shooting range somewhere. Fortunately the traffic noise masked that so Brodie never freaked out like he usually does. |
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| All other road crossings were low traffic country roads. |
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| There is a third stile but no need to climb over this one - there is a walk through opening to the right. |
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| Climbing over old stone fences is about as rocky as this hike gets. |
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| Red-tailed Hawk |
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| Crossing over this last field towards homes ... |
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| ... brings us to Trindle Road with AT parking on the right. |
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| Trindle Road Parking Lot |
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| Heading back. |
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| I noticed that the wind had suddenly kicked up and dark, ominous clouds were moving in quickly from the left. The forecast said partly cloudy all day with 3% chance of rain. |
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| It got really dark and we were being pelted ... |
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| ... by hail! |
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| Fortunately it did not last more than 10-15 minutes, the wind died down and the sun came back out. |
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| Back over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. |
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| Back over Route 11. |
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| Heading back to the bridge over ... |
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| ... I-81. Notice how Brodie's ears are pinned back? That would be because that wind kicked up again and it was an ongoing battle to move forward through it. |
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| Full exposure and full wind for a while. |
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| Finally coming into the sheltered part of the trail where that wind was mostly blocked. |
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| Back over the bridge ... |
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| ... to Scott Farm. |
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