Sunday, December 2nd 2001

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Sunday, December 2nd, 2001
Shingletown Gap, up the other cliff
What's that hill's name?

I've been wanting to map an accurate map of Shingletown Gap since last December, but the place is a maze of trails, confusing even when you've hiked it 20 times, like I have.

On this trip, I wanted to re-create a hike I took last winter, but lost the GPS data.

Starting out at the usual spot, I went to the edge of the gate, took the first blue trail to the right, and headed up the hill. After a hundred yards or so, there is a white blaze with a blue stripe which leads up a very cool cliff. What I like about Shingletown Gap is that it has something for everyone . . . gentle walks in the woods, small cliffs to scramble over, strenuous uphills, spectacular vistas, and nice places to eat lunch :-)

I'm still not sure what this hill's name is, but it's the one directly opposite Bald Knob. At the top of the hill, you can see Mount Nittany through the trees, but even in December, there are no really good views. I pushed on, feeling energetic and ready to get some photos.

There are a few spots where you can get views of some of State College, Beaver Stadium, and stuff like that, but unless you climb a tree, there's precious little to see. I decided to press my luck and continue along the ridge to the power lines.

The power lines run to a substation along route 45, and while I'm not sure if they're on public property or not, there is a definite trail, even if it's not blazed.

Since the woods are cut for about 100 yards, I figure there should be a great view of Happy Valley and Mount Nittany.

As you can see from my photos, the view was everything I expected it to be, except that you cannot see Mount Nittany without the power lines in the way. Still, I took a bunch of photos, and I figured on manipulating them on my PC later.

I headed back to the blazed trail, ate my spaghetti and meatballs MRE, and took about a 45 minute break.

Since I was near where the trail descended the hill, and there was a very nice set of rocks to sit on, I think this is about the best place for lunch on that particular hill.

The white with a strip trail leads down to the high valley between this hill and Tussey Ridge, where it meets up with the blue blazed trail I came up on. This trail is called the Deer Path, I believe, and it leads up to the Mid State Trail just north/west of the Roman Tower. It's a shame that there are no trail markers or signposts anywhere in the Shingletown Gap trail system, because it is very confusing.

A little past the Deer Path, there is a trail that is white blazed with a red stripe, which is the lower of the 1-2 Link trails. Again, I'm not sure of the names, or even which of the link trails is one or two, but I'm going to map it all out and wait for somebody to correct me. I followed the white with a red stripe trail, and while I didn't plan on doing as much hiking as I wound up doing, I felt pretty good and decided to hike until dark. Having started my hike at 11:30, this would make for a fairly long day for me.

The white with a red stripe trail leads to a mish-mosh of blue and white trails. The 'other' link trail is blue with a white stripe, and it parallels the first link trail, but near where the links meet on the north/east side, there is yet another blue and white combination that leads down to the Shingletown Path, which parallels Roaring Run. None of this is going to make sense until I finish my map, but I figured I would relate the experience anyway :-)

I followed the trail down to Roaring Run, where it meets the Shingletown Path near an old stone structure of some sort. After retracing my steps, planning on picking up where I left off on the white with a red stripe trail, I found that the trail actually splits, and I missed it. It is ridiculous in this area, since there are three different patterns of blue and white. One blue blaze with a white strip on top, one with a white stripe on the bottom, and one with a white stripe in the middle. The one with a white stripe on top connects to the white with a red stripe trail, and the one with the white stripe on the bottom leads to the blue with a white stripe in the middle trail. Of course, one would hope that the trail that is further up the hill would have the stripe further up the blaze, but it's not. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any pattern at all.

After hiking out on the blue with a white stripe trail as far as I could without going out too far, I returned to my car via the higher of the link trails. At this point, my GPS lost contact with the satellites, so I might need to do this section over again. Oh joy. I guess I can do it when I figure out where the Sand Spring Trail ends up :-)

I went back to my car via the really, really steep incline that is the second blue trail as you are heading northeast from the reservoir. This thing was nasty when I hiked down it in the winter for the first time--instep crampons are a must!

Pictures coming . . .