A Walk Amongst River Towns

• Parker, Pennsylvania, North Country Trail miles 94.5 to 97.5 
• This was an out-and-back hike.
• This part of the trail is a completely paved bike-hike trail.

I was spending Easter weekend at Jellystone Park in Harrisville where my husband works, and decided to spend Saturday hiking on the North Country Trail. I chose an area along the Allegheny River, and as it turns out, it was only a 30-minute drive from the campground!

I had never been to this area before. I felt giddy when I descended onto the road along the river and headed south to Parker, PA, seeing that the trail was a paved bike-hike trail between Parker, Foxburg, and Emlenton. What a beautiful place!

When I first arrived at the trailhead, my first objective was to find a convenience store or gas station to pick up some water and snacks. Parker's riverside accommodations did not disappoint! Not only was there a well-stocked convenience store, but there was also a very clean restroom. Let me tell you....when you're hiking, a nice restroom is an amazing find!

With water in hand and a nice treat of Combos, I began my planned 6-mile adventure. The first landmark I encountered was this amazing, blue truss bridge. The most striking thing to me about this bridge was its incline. According to HistoricBridges.org, the grade is at 6.32%. I was also surprised to read that it was built in 1934.

While on the bridge, I took pictures of the surrounding views.

Here is a view of the city of Parker. It doesn't look like much, but most of the city is beyond the cliff visible at the top of this photo. I didn't have the opportunity to explore up there this time!

These views are along the river as I began my walk. It was such a nice surprise to be hiking on pavement! That allows for quite a quick pace, and I ended up stashing away my hiking poles.

This is an old railroad bridge. This is not the first time I've encountered an old railroad bridge along a route that has been transitioned to a bike-hike trail. I think it is such a great way to utilize old railway grades!

Here is the point at which the Clarion River meets the Allegheny River! The railroad bridge crosses this point.

After 3 miles, I arrived in Foxburg. Like all other areas here, I had never visited Foxburg before. Unfortunately, there would not be much visiting today, either! 

Obligatory selfie! 

Heading back along the same route! I took this picture because way off in the distance, between a forked branch at center-right, you can barely see our little white adventure wagon waiting for me. I had left it parked in the parking lot of the convenience store.

Arriving back in Parker, this is what you'll find on the side opposite the convenience store. A spacious parking lot!

The view of the bridge from underneath it.

Views from the bridge.

If you look carefully, our van is on the right side of the bridge, a small white speck!

What a beautiful walk!

North Country Trail Workday

There are many trails in this area, but a significant one that runs through the Allegheny National Forest is a section of the North Country Trail. This 4,800 mile runs from North Dakota to Vermont. About 95 miles of it goes through the Allegheny National Forest which is my "home territory."

Along the North Country Trail, there are associations which work to maintain the trail. They also organize events like my favorite Allegheny 100 Challenge. This year's Allegheny 100 Challenge runs from June 6th until June 8th, and it'll be my 5th year participating. 

What I have not been able to do thus far in all of my hiking adventures is participate in a trail workday. Trail workdays are planned by the association responsible for this section of the trail, generally two per month. Although I have been aware of many of them, this weekend was the first chance I had to get out there and give back to the trail that I love so much.

Volunteers were told through a Facebook event post to meet at 10:00 a.m.at the Red Bridge Trailhead at the southern end of the Kinzua Reservoir. I pulled up to the parking lot to meet more than a dozen other volunteers who welcomed me to their group. We caravanned in 4WD vehicles via a service road up to a spot that was close to where the work was needed. My little Nissan Sentra had to stay behind, and I rode with another volunteer.

I sent this picture to Ed (my husband)
right before we headed up to the work site.

The plan for the workday for the team I was part of was to work on two re-routes of the trail. The first re-route was to create a by-pass for a very steep section of the trail by creating some zig-zags in the trail that are called switchbacks. The second was because after a survey by the Forestry Service, it was found that a small portion of the trail was on the wrong side of a property line. 

I worked on the re-route for the steep hill. To start the re-route, organizers had gone in the previous day and posted pink flags to mark where the new trail should go. It was interesting to learn that it had to stay within 50 feet of the original trail in order not to require a study assessing any broader effects of the re-route. Next, one of the volunteers went through with a leaf blower to remove the top layer of leaves and debris. The next part, generally speaking, was to make the trail as nice to walk on as possible by cutting away branches, trimming back roots that could possibly be trip hazards, and to make the tread as level as possible. This involved several different kinds of work and tools including bringing bucks of soil over to fill low spots, shifting rocks to more stable spots, etc. 

In total, we worked for about three hours with a break for lunch in the middle. It was a really fascinating experience, and I look forward to going to my next one! Although this wasn't an official hike, I did accomplish a lot of hiking and hard work! My step count was 16,347.

The following picture was taken by Tina O'Toole, who is one of the association's primary leaders. You can find more on the group's Facebook page. 

An Evening Walk Through Town

An evening walk along Pennsylvania Avenue

2.5 miles

Ed (my husband) and I needed some steps today. He is participating in a month-long walking contest at work, and I am trying to keep active even on a rainy Saturday. So, after dinner, we decided to take a walk through town. Walking along the sidewalks on Pennsylvania and crossing the Hickory Street Bridge is lovely, especially because it is right along the Allegheny River.

The Hickory Street Bridge

View of the Riverfront

A New Blog is Born

This blog is inspired by a blog I kept in 2013 in which I documented a challenge I made for myself to walk 80 miles in 20 days while on vacation to my hometown of Warren, PA. At that time, I was a music teacher in Houston, TX, and only visited Pennsylvania in the summers. 

Fast forward 12 years, and my husband and I are now living back in our hometown, and I am teaching music here. Hiking has become a huge part of my leisure and fitness activities, especially in the summer. A highlight of my hiking experience has been the Allegheny 100 Challenge, an event in which hikers can choose to hike 25, 50, 75, or 100 miles throughout the first weekend in June. Part of beginning to hike now is my preparation to complete that challenge for the 5th consecutive year.

So, on this day, March 17, I took my first hike of the season. As I was hiking, I saw some interesting things that I felt like sharing with people, and I reminisced about my old blog. I decided to begin a new blog to document all of the hiking I plan to do in 2025. While the purpose of the 2013 blog was to fulfill my personal challenge of walking 80 miles in 20 days, the purpose of this new blog will simply be to take you hiking with me and see some of the most beautiful land in the country here in northwest Pennsylvania! (Although, there will be some hiking in New York State, too!)

 

First Hike of 2025

There is no school today! This day off is called an Energy Day, a day reserved on our school calendar as a day off unless we have a Snow Day. Fortunately, although school was canceled twice due to weather, it did not need to take this day! Thank goodness! It was wonderful to have a day off.

My main goals today were to 1) Sleep In and 2) Go Hiking. Number 1 was easily accomplished! When I got up, I had a good breakfast and packed a few things in my backpack for the hike. I had been wishing I had a pair of gaiters for my pants. I knew it would be damp out today because the previous day's weather was rainy. Without gaiters, my pants become damp on the bottom, and the damp would creep up my legs. I decided to make a quick run to Allegheny Outfitters and check out their selection. Fortunately, they had a pair that would meet my needs and that I felt I could afford. They indeed came in handy today!

Obviously, hiking can happen in any season, but I generally need to wait until springtime because I lack the gear for winter hiking. I usually wait until the temperature is at least in the 30s and there is no risk of icy surfaces. Today was a little colder than I like to hike in, hovering at about 32 degrees. But I was prepared with sturdy boots, gloves, and a few layers of clothes.

I aimed to start at the Henry's Mills Trailhead and head south. The mile marker for my start today was just between 232 and 233. I chose this spot because I am determined to cover the entirety of the North Country Trail within the Allegheny National Forest by the end of the summer. This was an area of the North Country Trail within the Allegheny National Forest that I had never been on. I had been to Henry's Mills as part of the Allegheny 100 hike in 2021, but it was the start of a northbound hike. 

Once there, I planned to hike south for an hour and then back to my car. I was hoping that I would reach at least two miles in that time. While hiking, I average about 2 mph with a loaded pack, so barring any rough terrain or other issues, this should be easily accomplished.

And off we go. 

Winter is beautiful here. And summer is beautiful here. This part of springtime? Not so much. We'll need to give it about a month. Right now, the landscapes look barren, and everything is the same color. The beauty here is in anticipation of the luscious vegetarian to come.

What is especially interesting about trails around here is that many of them have evolved from old logging routes, and you can see remnants of old logging technology. At least, I'm assuming this machinery shown in these pictures is from logging operations. Somebody can correct me if they recognize the pieces more specifically. 

I saw the pieces below and got these pictures. That's also when I decided I should start this new blog.

   

What do you think this is?
It's as large as a pontoon boat
 but high up a steep hillside!

I decided then to take a few pictures of the scenery. Streams are always beautiful. This one is called Messenger Run.

Next, I came across one of the trail's established campsites. I saw the marker for it next to the blue blaze, looked around for the campsite for several minutes, and couldn't find it! I actually gave up looking for it, and as I headed back to resume walking, I found it. The campfire ring was buried under some leaves, so I cleared the leaves away. On the trail map, this is called the Messenger Run Campsite. 

 

A little while later, I decided to take a picture of the trail. This view will be almost solid green in a month or two!

And now we're almost back to my car. I took a picture from very high up above my car. The trail came down some very long switchback segments. That picture is not included here because it didn't turn out very well. 

As I approached the end of the section, just before the trail crossed the main road, I came across this trailhead marker. This sign shows you that I was beginning at RT. 666. If I were heading northbound, I would come out at RT 948 in 3.8 miles. THAT is a very beautiful spot called Cherry Run. There is some lovely creekside camping there. Bucket List!

The trailheads of the North Country Trail generally have these signs, maps, and instructions. (I'm sure it's that way with all well-established and maintained trails.) Commonly, hikers will be reminded to Leave No Trace, for example. There may also be warnings such as to look out for invasive species, such as the Spotted Lanternfly, and what to do if you see signs of them.

Thus ended my first hike of 2025! Short, sweet, and to the point.