Sunday, April 9th 2000

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Sunday, April 9th
James Cleveland Trail - Mount Nittany via Bald Eagle State Forest

A lot of people don't know that Mount Nittany goes all the way past Centre Hall to Hecla Gap. While the "traditional" Mount Nittany hike is to go up the side facing Happy Valley, there is another way to hike it.

Take State Route 144 South from Pleasant Gap and go up "Centre Hall Mountain--a misnomer, since it is really Mount Nittany). Take a left on Greens Valley Road (not to be confused with Lower Greens Valley Road) and after about 5 miles, you'll come to Bald Eagle State Forest.

2.2 Miles into Bald Eagle, you'll see a sign on the right for the James Cleveland Trail. This is the trailhead. James Cleveland was an air mail pilot who crashed into the mountain in 1931, and the trail is named for him.

The trail starts off as a nice stroll through the woods, passing a small foot bridge over Fishing Creek, and a few other small runs.

After about a kilometer or so, the trail takes a sharp turn uphill. After reading Mike Harmann's (the owner of Purple Lizard recreational maps) description, I didn't think the trail went to the top of the mountain. It does.

Lori and I were not really prepared for a mountain climb, but I did have a poncho and my Gabel trekking poles, so we decided to go for it.

The trail up the hill is steeper than the "other" Mount Nittany trail, but it was more fun, since it is obviously less traveled. Along the way, I spied some large dog tracks, which really surprised me, since I would have guessed the hill to be too steep for a dog . . . must have been a BIG dog, too. At first, I thought they were from a bear.

After about a half hour uphill, we came to the peak, and let me tell you, it was WINDY! At the very crest of the hill is a nice memorial to James Cleveland, including an obelisk, a 4 foot pile of rocks with airplane wreckage, and some primitive benches. Photos will be forthcoming.

The trail continues over the south side of the mountain via a huge pile of rocks, and it looks like it goes all the way to Centre Hall. While Lori, surprisingly, wanted to continue, I thought it would be better if we backtracked to the car, since we were not at all prepared for a trek down the far side. I hope to follow this path to its conclusion at some point this summer.

Hiking back down the path was not terribly difficult, since we took our time. On the way up, I thought it would be a problem, since an overnight snowfall had made the trail a bit slippery.

I tested my Altama jungle boots pretty well on this trip, and they held up very well. At one point, I stepped in a large puddle and got my foot wet, but after 15 minutes or so, my foot was completely dry. I credit my Wigwam socks and the Altamas design . . .

Lessons learned:
1. Be prepared! Hermann's report said this was a half-hour trip. It took a little over 2 hours up a very steep hill. Good thing I had some extras.
2. Bring a camera--there were lots of neat things to photograph on this trail, and I'm glad I brought my camera.
3. It does snow in April!