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Sunday, April 22nd 2001
Mid State Trail
R. B. Winter State Park to Sand Mountain Fire Tower

The sand mountain fire tower has been converted into a radio tower . . . I wish I knew this before I started this hike, but it was still enjoyable. As it stands, it's still a nice trail, but there is only 1 vista, and it's not very impressive.

What there is on this trail is a lot of nice footing, rare for Pennsylvania ridges. There is also a nice variety of plant life, and a few nice spots for camping.

I started the trail near the bridge on route 192 near the dam in the state park. The park itself is kind of nice, but there were probably 50 or more people there on this particular outing.

After taking off into the woods, you are immediately met by an escarpment of rocks that make you think this is going to be an extraordinarily scenic hike. Take your time here, because this is the best it gets.

The trail starts up a very steep hill, but it soon levels out, and before you know it, you're at the top of the ridge. Although the trail is uphill almost the entire way to the fire tower, it's so gradual that you hardly notice it.

My knee was bothering me a bit from the hike I took a week before, but it felt good, so I decided to do the entire 5.3 kilometer hike to the tower and back.

About 2/3 or the way to the tower, near a dirt road, the trail splits into the MST on the left, and the Bake Oven Trail to the right. About 50 yards in on the bake oven trail, there is an excellent camp site, which I decided to use for lunch after seeing the tower. Basically, it's a large flat circle, possible some kind of charcoal flat or railroad turnaround, but today it's just a grassy circle with nice scenery and bushes surrounding it. I would imagine that this area is well used, since there is easy road access. Still, it looked to be in great shape.

After crossing the road, and a sign denoting the trail's creation by the Youth Conservation Corps in 1979, there is an intersection with the Buffalo Trail, and a rather rocky way with few blazes. The trail is fairly easy to follow here, but you won't see a blaze for another 100 yards or so. If you take the Buffalo Trail to the north (your left at this point) I'm told it makes a nice circuit hike.

I wish that I had taken the circuit hike, because upon reaching the fire tower, I discovered that the whole area is being turned into an antenna farm . . . see photos below.

A one hundred foot tower and gigantic guy wires dominate the scene, but there is almost nothing but a tiny vista looking north to keep your interest. The guy wires do 'sing' in the wind, though, and if you're not pressed for time, it's a nice footnote to add to a circuit hike. As a destination, though, it leaves much to be desired.

I returned to the camp site and ate an MRE, and then hiked back to my car. By this time, the clouds that were with me all morning gave way to sunshine, and it was a nice walk . . . little blue butterflies kept popping up, and it was a very nice walk. When the mountain laurels bloom, this would be a spectacular walk in the woods. 

Total time, with an hour for lunch was 4 1/2 hours. 

This was the first hike I made after purchasing Delorme's Topo USA software, which was kind of neat, since I had already input some waypoints. My GPS new exactly how far I was to the fire tower, and even pointed me to the trailhead . . . nice technology :-)

Parking Lot. Looking towards the bridge that leads to beach.	Man-made lake. Three shot panorama of lake . . . dam is to the right, as is the trailhead for the MST.
Spillway with placard. PA 192 is behind you if you see this view :-) trailhead is to the right.	View of dam from South
MST Trailheads Looking down PA 192 after passing parking area. Trail on left goes to Sand Mountain and northeast.	MST trailhead Different view of trailhead leading northeast.
Bake Oven Trail Marker. MST follows the Bake Oven Trail over, you guessed it, Bake Oven Mountain.	Old Boundary Trailhead Leads to camping area and eventually to dam.
	Typical view of this section of the MST. A little rocky and a little mossy--not too bad to walk on.
Same view as last image	This is the only decent vista on the trail, looking north. There is also a view to the south.
Looking South from "power line vista"	Trail markers where Bake Oven Trail splits from Mid State Trail. BOT is to the right, MST to the left after crossing the road.
Bake Oven Trail marker	Mid State Trail marker. Says, "Mid State Trail, built by Youth Conservation Corps, 1979"
Close up of Bake Oven Trail marker. Good, flat campsite is to far right, not shown.
These blue butterfiles were everywhere . . .	Buffalo Trail intersection with MST Blue blazed trail leads back to R.B. Winter to the left. Since the fire tower is no longer worth seeing, this is a good short-cut.
My trusty Gabel Quota 8800 trekking poles. Sign is near old fire tower.	Four shot composite of fire tower. There is some distortion, but this is a 180 degree view of the area near the fire tower. The tower is about 50 feet high, and the radio antenna to the right is around 100 feet. The guy wires are massive and noisy!
Many of the rocks on the trail have these little 'fossil' imprints in them . . . I suspect they are from polished, riverbed stones, but I'm not sure. Anybody have an idea?

 

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