The Old Logger's Path (OLP)

So Britt and I left home and set out to pick up Adam from Bucknell. We got there and called him, but his phone had died. He had a week-long conference all week and planned to meet with us after his last meeting on Friday. We called the school office to find what building the conference was being held and found his car nearby. After not being able to get a hold of him for about 40 minutes or so, we decided to go on without him. About 10 minutes after leaving campus, I got a phone call from Adam. He had been moving couches for his new apartment. Thankfully he was already packed up and ready to go.

We drove less than an hour and we had already reached the closest discernable town to the trailhead. It seems like the towns surrounding hiking trails are all eerily similar; half abandoned and left with a special breed of people. After driving through said town we were within a mile or two of our intended parking. We were disappointed to find a road block with a large sign informing us the road was closed ahead. Considering how close we were, we decided to plow around the block. No small task considering that we were driving a 15 year old Chevy Cavalier loaded with gear. After a few minutes of maneuvering we made it through the surrounding mud. It proved to be a bad decision when we reached several fallen rocks that had blocked the road further ahead. Worse still we realized we broke some of the brackets that held up the car’s exhaust. We decided to park the car, worry about the broken parts later, and hike to the rest of the distance.

Then a few more challenges; we had a lot of trouble finding the trailhead. We hiked past, then backtracked, then went past again, then circled a nearby area, all before finding the marked entrance. In hindsight I’m not sure how we missed it. It wasn’t as obvious as we might have hoped, but it was definitely marked and accessible. We took it all in stride anyhow. It was a good feeling once we were hiking on the trail and putting some distance between that access road and ourselves. We passed several beautiful campsites and scenery as well. It was after dinnertime, and we made it our goal to camp about 10 miles away at a beautiful gorge and swimming hole. Apparently this location had won “best swimming hole in America” from backpacker magazine, and it lived up to its credentials. But first we had to make it there.

We made it about halfway before the sun went down. We hiked till about 10:30 when we heard the stream described in our photocopied guide. Encouraged, we picked up the pace. We continued about a mile before realizing we hadn’t been descending much. We were still about 200 feet up a steep ledge from the stream. We figured we were a good distance away from the swimming hole the guide described. We hadn’t completely filled up on water at the start- we counted on filling up at the many sources we would cross. Unfortunately, they were all dry. So, we decided to slide our way down to the river. We couldn’t see much, but it sounded intimidating. We managed to filter and fill all our water containers while enjoying a break on a boulder mid-river. We hadn’t seen much flat ground for camping and couldn’t look too much further. Adam found a place halfway up the ledge barely large enough for our 2 tents. It would have to work. We set up while Britt made some dinner. It was delicious and a great way to end the day.

Britt and I woke up before Adam and decided to take a peek around without our packs or boots on. What we couldn’t see in the dark now looked unreal. Just about 100 feet off the trail we stood on a ledge looking over 3 dark blue, swirling swimming holes carved out of the stone. There were rock formations all around the water to jump off and rapids throughout the rest of the stream. We found some big boulders; a perfect place to have breakfast. After heading back to camp, waking Adam up, and getting packed, we headed back to the water. We had breakfast and took some pictures, while deciding if we were going to actually swim in this water (it was freezing). Adam made a convincing argument and we all hopped in. It was an awesome hour or two. We found a few chair like formations eroded by the current. It made a good photo op then we headed back to the trail.
We had planned to hike straight through the afternoon to the next major landmark, 4 vistas nearby each other. Instead, we got sidetracked about a half our later when we saw another swimming hole, even bigger than the first. We abandoned our plans and enjoyed the scenery. We had eaten lunch by the time we left. Once we got back on the trail the scenery was outstanding. Lots of mature hardwood trees with beautiful ferns covering the ground. Best of all the footing was all soft…barely any rocks (unlike the AT)! A few hours of hiking later, we reached a sharp turn and proceeded to climb 600 feet in less than a mile. It hurt so good. We reached the top and crested Sullivan Mountain.

It was covered densely with mountain laurels to the point that it was hard to make it through. We crossed the top of the mountain to the first vista. It was nice, but we had a feeling the others would be better. We continued a short way and reached the second. This one was higher and offered a better view. As we approached the rocky outcrop, we realized that a large rattlesnake was right in front of us. It must have been sleeping because it wasn’t aggressive at all, even after I tossed a pebble or two its way to hear its rattle. We thought better of stopping near the snake and walked to the next vista. In a sort of déjà vu, there was another snake in a similar position, but slightly larger. This one was much more aggressive. As soon as we arrived it started sounding its warning for us to leave. This vista offered a beautiful campsite right near the rocks, so we decided to make camp, snakes and all.

The clouds were coming in, and thunderstorms were forecasted, so we set up fast. Right when we were set up, we ate another delicious dinner provided by Britt. I decided to eat right on the outcrop. When I began to get comfortable I moved a bit and sat my hand down. Much to my surprise, my hand was on the back of a large rattlesnake. I’m assuming it’s the same one as before. It had been lying right under the surface of the rock on a small ledge below. My fingers wrapped over just enough to startle it (and me). After that I figured I had pushed my luck enough for the day and we ate around a campfire. We made sure the tents were zipped up tight that night. We all slept well enough, and woke up screaming only once…a false alarm…ha. It never did rain…

Day 3 we slept in and were on a mission to get to the car before the rain did eventually start. We made it about halfway before we lost the race. The rain started hard about a half hour before we got back. It actually felt really good to have the cold rain falling in the humidity and heat. We stopped to refill water and didn’t break pace again till we hit the car. We were happy to make it, but realized we still had to fix the muffler. It went fine though, and after a few minutes we had a temporary fix with some hiking rope and a pocket knife. We managed to turn around on the narrow road and make it past the roadblock a second time. After a rough start, this trip turned out to be awesome. I highly recommend it, but make sure you have a better map...and dont count on the water, even after recent rain.