Mile 12.80 to 17.10, circled via Will and Shay Trails, hiked September 14, 1997
Mile 17.10 to 20.71, circled via Will Trail and Route 44, hiked September 27, 1997
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To reach the mile 12.80 trail crossing of Route 44 by car, take PA Route 44 north approximately 35 miles from US Route 220 in the vicinity of Jersey Shore. You will pass junctions with PA Routes 973, 414 and 664, and a side road to Hyner Run State Park. Beyond that, occasional unpaved roads intersect Route 44. The BFT crosses Route 44 at Trout Run Road, an unpaved sideroad to the right, at mile 23.19. It is approximately 3 1/2 miles further to Slate Run Road, unpaved sideroad to right, then about 1 1/2 miles to the BFT crossing of Route 44 at mile 12.80. This crossing is within a few hundred feet of the point where Route 44 crosses from Lycoming into Potter County. Hiking to the right leads to mile 12, to the left leads to mile 13, assuming you are still facing in the northbound direction on Route 44. The mile 17.10 access point is reached by taking the Blackberry Trail, indicated by a wooden sign, which leaves Route 44 to the left approximately 2 miles after Trout Run Road, and approximately 1 1/2 miles before Slate Run Road. The Blackberry Trail leads to the Sentiero di Shay Trail, indicated by blue blazes, after 0.6 miles, and after some additional junctions with the Shay and Will Trails, the BFT intersects approximately 3/4 mile in from Route 44. Continuing straight on the BFT leads to mile 17, turning left on the BFT leads to mile 18. After the problems encountered on our initial hike in the Slate Run area, Mike was almost ready to "cut bait" on the BFT, but he decided a change in venue might be a good approach. Our second BFT hike took place in the cooler fall weather of September 7, 1997, after Mike had procured some USGS topo maps and studied them. The mile 12.80 junction on Route 44 was reached after about an hour's drive from Williamsport. We began hiking east, really northeast, from the highway, along gravel Big Dam Hollow Road which the BFT followed for a few hundred feet before turning right off the road. Shortly afterwards, we passed a State Forest leased campsite, and about 1/2 mile into the hike, we passed a junction with the Sentiero di Shay Trail, a side trail of the BFT marked with blue blazes. Another mile along the BFT brought us to an intersection with gravel Pipeline Road, where the BFT jogged right then left. After about another mile, we saw some vistas of the surrounding valleys then the trail descended slightly to a campsite area near a stream at mile 9.54. After snacking there, we doubled back by the same route, and considered this our first successful BFT hike. We repeated the feat the following week on the opposite side of Route 44. After an initial 1/3 to 1/2 mile hike along the gravel road into the woods, we reached the County Line Branch (of Young Woman's Creek). I don't know how the creek got its name, but the branch is named for the fact that it roughly parallels the Potter/Lycoming County line, and in fact, the BFT traversed Potter County for nearly all of this hike. For the next 2 1/2 miles, we followed the branch downstream over a very gradual drop of approximately 500 ft. The trail guide warns of 20 stream crossings and specifies an alternate high water trail, but we had no difficulty with high water since there hadn't been much recent rain. At mile 15.75, the trail crossed the stream for the last time, then began a steep ascent with switchbacks which regained all the elevation we'd lost following County Line Branch in less than 1/2 mile. This was the only difficult climb in this area. About 1/2 mile after reaching the mountaintop, we intersected and began to follow the Blackberry Trail at BFT mile 16.77. At mile 17.10, where the BFT turned right off the Blackberry Trail, we stopped for lunch. Having covered 4 1/3 mile, Mike proposed two changes for the return trip. One was a route change, continuing along the Blackberry Trail to its intersection with the Shay Trail where we turned left. The Shay Trail then paralleled the BFT back to an intersection at BFT mile 13.27. This cut nearly a mile off the BFT route and removed the downhill/uphill hiking as the Shay stayed in the woods on the mountaintop. The second change was having Maria attempt to hike on her own two feet. We thought it would help Mike to begin breaking her into hiking, since she was getting heavier to carry in the backpack. What we didn't expect -- since she was barely two months beyond her 2nd birthday -- was that she would cover the next 3/4 mile before asking Mike to carry her again. For our third September, 1997 hike, we accessed the BFT by hiking the Blackberry Trail west from Route 44 about 0.8 miles. There we turned left to begin following the BFT at mile 17.10. After about 1/2 mile, the trail dropped to a stream, then ascended steeply for a short time. In another 1/2 mile, the trail reached a point where several vistas were visible. About two miles into the hike, we intersected the George B. Will Trail and it followed the BFT for the remaining 1 1/2 miles we hiked that day. When we reached BFT mile 20.71, we had lunch then began doubling back along the BFT/Will combination until we reached the point where the Will had originally joined at BFT mile 19.19. For the return trip, we continued straight on the Will rather than continuing left on the BFT, the way we had originally come. This returned us to the Shay/Blackberry Trail in about a mile, cutting over a mile from the roundtrip. Other Possible Hikes in this Area: A roundtrip from mile 12.80 to the Francis Road junction at mile 7.96 is not inconceivable, but from a hiking standpoint, it would be preferable to do it in the other direction, putting a lengthy downhill woods road segment at the end of a 10-mile hike. Combinations using the Will, Shay, Blackberry, Gas Line-Baldwin and other trails mentioned on maps or in the guidebook are too numerous to describe individually. |
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