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After
finishing our second to last segment of the LT in late October,
we thought we'd have to wait till warm weather came the following
spring to hike
the last segment. When the third weekend of November approached with
a relatively mild weather forecast, we realized it wouldn't have to
wait
that long. We accessed the trail from the same parking area used for
the
Labor Day weekend trip, on Mountain Road just beyond the point it
branched
off from Genesee Road. This was not difficult to reach from PA Route
864,
turning left at the main intersection in Huntersville. About a mile and
a half along this road, which had turned to gravel, we reached a Y
intersection and took the left fork which was Mountain Road. In about
1/4 mile, the
LT merged from the left for a short jog along the road, and there was a
parking area at the point where it turned right off the road in about
200
ft.
We began hiking back on Mountain Road, from mile 15.45 to 15.41 where
the LT turned right off the road and began to ascend from 1400 ft. The
morning was sunny and cool without much wind, with the temperature in
the upper 30s. Mike actually hiked in a blue cotton sweater without a
jacket. There had been no snow in Williamsport, and just a dusting
where we parked. As we began to climb we noticed more snow. It wasn't a
steep uphill, but it was a constant moderate rise which began to level
out after we passed an intersection with White Trail W-2 at mile 14.82.
By this time we were atop the Allegheny Ridge. After reaching an
elevation of 1810 ft, we descended slightly into the head of Hessler
Hollow at
1760 ft, ascended again to 1850 ft, and dropped to 1810 ft. The
remaining
1/4 mile or so brought us to a high point of 2030 ft. We were walking
through snow that was about two or three inches deep when Mike yelled
that he could see the Red X junction. (At that time, the side
trail was designated as a Red X trail RX-4. It is currently
designated as a Blue trail B-3.)
Mike had packed up a small bottle of champagne so we toasted our
completion of the Loyalsock Trail at the mile 13.53 junction. Maria
drank orange juice. Because of the cold and snow, we didn't even take
Maria out of
the backpack, but finished our celebration, took photos, and
immediately
began hiking back down.
In 2006, Mike
and Maria hiked this segment at the beginning of a ten-mile hike.
Like the hike made in 1996, this represented the completion of the
LT. This time, it was Maria who was finishing the last segment
she needed to complete the trail on her own two feet. The weather
was warmer on a pleasant sunny day in early October. We also
noticed that the former Red X trail which had been labeled RX-4 was no
longer blazed with the Red X markers. Instead, these had been
painted over with a light blue color to signify Blue trail B-3 leading
to the fire tower, but no longer blazed as continuing on to return to
the main LT.)
Footnote: We drove home after the 1996 hike. When Mike came home from
work the next evening, he found that Aimee had baked a cake to
celebrate
our completion of the LT. It was a chocolate pan cake, decorated with
facsimiles of the old style and new style trail markers, with the
message, "Thanks Alpine Club
-- Loyalsock Trail 1992 to 1996 -- Aimee Mike & Maria."
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 Mike and
Maria at LT mile marker 14, less than a half mile from our goal of
completing the Loyalsock Trail. A dusting of snow at the beginning of
the hike had become two or three inches after climbing 300 ft. |
 Mike gives a "thumbs up" sign next to a tree bearing
the markers of the Red X Trail RX-4 which intersected the LT at mile
13.53. This junction was the end of our final LT segment. Note:
The side trail is no longer designated as a Red X. It is
currently Blue trail B-3.
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 We took this
photo as we passed mile marker 15 on the return leg to the car. Note
that there is no snow at this point, as we have begun our descent from
the ridge. |
 After we returned home, Aimee
baked a cake and decorated it to celebrate our completion
of the Loyalsock Trail. Mike and Maria posed with the cake on November
18, 1996.
Thanks Alpine Club! |
 This is what
the replica
of the old-style LT trail marker looks like. These are available from The Alpine Club of Williamsport
for a nominal cost. The replica is actually laminated on plastic, not a
soup can lid like the ones on the LT. They were originally intended to
be replaced by the 2" by 6" rectangular yellow blazes with a red stripe
across the middle, but still remain alongside the new blazes on most of
the LT. |
 Quoting from the
LT trail guide published by the Alpine Club , "Hikers
covering at least ten miles of the LT may purchase an embroidered LT
patch ..." Mike and Aimee always intended to send for theirs, but never
got around to it until Maria completed ten
miles the weekend she was ten weeks old . All three of us got our
patches then.
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 Right:
On October 8, 2006, Mike and Maria rehiked this segment as part of a
ten-mile hike. Here Maria poses at mile marker 14 near the
beginning of the hike.
Below: Since we last hiked this segment in 1996, the Red X trail
was redesignated as Blue trail B-3 and the blazes were
changed from yellow circles with a red X to light blue circles, by
painting them with light blue paint.
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