Sunday, May 14th 2000

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Sunday, May 14th
Shingletown Water Gap
Shingletown Gap to Little Flat via Bald Knob - not!

Lori and I wanted to see Little Flat Fire Tower, but the maps of the area left no clear idea of where to park and how to do the hike.

I decided to make an approach from Shingletown Gap, since that was described in a few guides I had. What a bad way to go!

First of all, there are no signs anywhere near the trailhead, so I was left to guess where to start. Given the map I had, I headed up what looked like the right way. The 'trail' seemed to fork three ways, and I was under the impression that they all led to the same place. Not wanting to be a lemming, I didn't want to follow the way most people were going. We wound up bushwhacking a new trail right up the end of Bald Knob, which is the small hill in front of Tussey Ridge. Fortunately, when we got to the top--no small feat--there was a trail on a small and well worn knife edge.

There would be some spectacular views from Bald Knob if the trees weren't there. There are no natural vistas.

After a half mile or so, we started to find some blue blazes, which eventually got brighter and newer. From the map I had, I could tell that we were heading in the right direction, generally, so we forged ahead.

After about 3/4 of a mile, on the ridge top, we found a well marked trail that headed down towards roaring run. We took it.

Sure enough, the trail lead right down to the Shingletown Gap Trail. This trail is so well worn that a child could follow it. We sure did miss it at the trailhead. Later we would learn that the trailhead is about 100 yards from the parking area, and that what looked like a trail to us was just worn down from a lot of people walking around. It wasn't the trail we were looking for.

After heading down to Shingletown Gap, we found a lot of neat stuff to look at, but this area is so well worn and so popular that it's annoying.

After about a mile up the trail, it started to get less popular, and it actually passes an electric fence which is designed to keep deer out of a previously logged area. Young trees had been planted to replace what was logged, and the deer would eat them causing a lot of damage.

After the electric fence, and a lot of bikers, we decided to give up, since it was running a bit late, and we weren't exactly sure how long it would take to get back to the trailhead.

The way back was much nicer than the way up, with Roaring Run following us the whole way. Small waterfalls and some very old hemlocks provided some good scenery. Towards the end of the trail, large rock outcroppings from Bald Knob make some dramatic impressions on the 'dark' woods.

As it turned out, we were only a few hundred yards from Laurel Run Road, but it would have taken at least another 2-3 hours to get to Little Flat. Now I knew that I only had to drive up Laurel Run Road to get back there :-)