Backside of Forty (archive): fall

Strap 20... or 30... or more pounds to your back. Hike several miles through the woods. Hang your food in a tree. Sleep on a thin piece of foam. Repeat.

Backpacking. Yeah, I do that.

It's definitely not for everybody. Many wouldn't even consider trying it. And, if I'm honest, when I've packed my food too heavy, and I'm powering up a hill, and my back is wet with perspiration, with a blister forming on my heel... or, when the nighttime temps drop low enough that I'm chilly in my sleeping bag, and my back is sore if I don't change positions every few hours, and I'm continually wakened by night critters stirring about; it's times like these I wonder why I willingly choose to participate in such an activity.

But, the flip side is the satisfaction of walking into camp, dropping your pack, and knowing you did something others wouldn't attempt, or the rare experience of waking up in the forest, with the forest, as the first rays of sun stream through a woodland mist and break into the open end of your lean-to shelter.

You may not "get it"... but I enjoy it enough to strap 20... or 30... or more pounds on my back... well, you get the picture.

I have been waiting for the right time to introduce my two oldest boys to backpacking. They needed to be old enough to carry all their own stuff, and old enough to appreciate the tired-end-of-day feeling of a job well done.

I felt this was the year. I debated whom to take. At age 11, I definitely felt Dylan was ready. But, At age 9, I wasn't sure about Zachary. Zachary has eczema and asthma, and I knew it would be more difficult for him than it would be for Dylan. Yet, they are so close in age (23 months) that they often experience things together. I discussed it with Zachary and let him know that it would be difficult, and that I expected him to complete the trip, carrying his gear, without excessive whining. He wanted to go... I agreed.

I chose Raccoon Creek State Park for several reasons:

It's one of the closest developed backpacking trails to our home.
The terrain is hilly, but with relatively mild elevation changes.
The trail system is a series of interconnected loops and it is possible to adjust your daily mileage by switching to a different loop.

By "developed", I mean that Raccoon Creek has two designated backpacking camp areas within the park's trail system. Each camp area (Sioux and Pioneer) has five Adirondack-style lean-to sleeping shelters that can be rented, designated campfire rings, pit toilets, and a water pump... primitive for camping, but posh for backpacking.

I got home from work last Friday about 6:30 PM, grabbed a quick shower and dinner, changed clothes, loaded the three packs in the car (mine weighing about 32 pounds, Dylan's about 20, and Zachary's about 19), and got on the road around 7:30... which, by the way, is dusk in northeast Ohio in October. It was about an hour and a half drive to the park, putting us there around 9:00 PM, which, by the way, is dark in Western Pennsylvania in October.

I parked the car at the park office, which is just over one mile from the Sioux camping area. Because there is a group scout camp area near the Sioux shelter area, we were able to avoid the trail in the dark, and hike our one mile mostly on the park roads. With the nearly full moon, we didn't need our flashlights until the last section, where we had to use the trail.

Friday night, Sioux shelter #1

Only one other shelter was occupied when we got into camp (more on that in a minute). We set up our beds, gathered some wood, built a small fire, ate a snack, hung our food, and got into bed a little before midnight. Even though Friday was a short night, the boys were excited about being on their first backpack trip, and they thought the shelter was really cool... "Dad, you should build one of these in our backyard so we can sleep outside any time we want." Their excitement didn't keep them awake, though; they were asleep almost the minute they zipped up their sleeping bags. Me, on the other hand...

Remember that other occupied shelter I mentioned? I'm pretty sure they weren't actual backpackers. I didn't go investigate, but it sounded more like a party in the woods. This theory was further supported when more friends arrived around 11:30 PM with a cooler and lawn chairs... I've never carried a cooler and a lawn chair when I backpacked. The fact that the road comes so close to this shelter area makes it conducive to such activities. I doubt that they were even registered campers, because the park does not encourage backpackers to park in the group camp area, which is where all their cars were parked. They partied until somewhere after 4 AM, which means I didn't get much sleep Friday night. They didn't physically bother us, but the noise disturbance was annoying. Since "they" were many and "we" were only one adult and two kids, I left them alone. However, at one point in the wee hours of the morning, I called the number for the park office (I carried my cell phone in case I needed it, but left it turned off the duration of the trip), which was, of course, closed. The recording directed me to 9-1-1, which I phoned and asked for a ranger to be dispatched to break up the party. Unfortunately, that never happened. I dozed off and on until about 4 AM, then slept until about 8AM, when the boys awoke. I didn't make any effort to be quiet, once we were awake!

Saturday morning, Sioux shelter #1

Raccoon Creek provides these poles to hang the food... easier than messing with a tree and a rope.

pop tarts for breakfast

ready to hit the trail... next stop, Pioneer shelter area

Saturday morning started with a pop-tart breakfast, followed by packing up our gear and hitting the trail about 9:30 AM. We hiked just over eight miles, and got into camp a little before 4:00 PM. It wasn't "Are we there yet?", but rather, "How many miles have we hiked, so far?" If I had a dollar for every time I heard that!

The weather was perfect the entire weekend, with daytime temps about 70 and nighttime temps in the 40's. Saturday was a beautiful day to be in the woods, with leaves starting to color and crunch underfoot, and a few small stream crossings along the way. Saturday's route also took us by Mineral Springs, which is a park highlight.

Dylan did very well with Saturday's mileage, and probably could have done a few more. Zachary struggled a little toward the end, but I expected that, and he maintained a great attitude. I was very proud of both of them!

When we started the weekend, I had given the boys a pep-talk about doing this as a group, rather than an individual event. I told them that we were going to encourage each other through any hardships, and if any of us struggled at any point, the others would stick with them and pull them through, not just hike out ahead and leave them in the dust. This is not to say that we didn't sometimes pull the hills at a different pace, but we had an agreement that if we pulled ahead on a hill, we'd wait at the top, and if we sensed the man behind us was struggling, we'd hang back to be an encourager. For the most part, the boys "got it" and we had a good bond going on the trail.

Toward the end of Saturday's hike, however, when we were getting tired and we had exhausted our water bottles, a brief "spat" broke out between Dylan and Zachary, when Dylan lost his patience with Zachary, who was really beginning to drag. (Not faulting him... he did great for his age!) I immediately stopped the boys and told them that we were a team, and that was unacceptable. I reaffirmed Zachary, and suggested that Dylan might owe him an apology. I left it at that, and we moved on down the trail... no apology. We were getting very close to camp, and I knew that we'd pass the water pump a short distance up the trail. I took Zachary's water bottle and told him I was going to hike ahead, and I'd come back and meet him with some cold water. I told Dylan to stay with his brother and encourage him into camp. As I was returning with the water, I rounded a corner to a sight that made me proud... both brothers, side-by-side in the trail, Zachary packless and Dylan carrying both their packs. I guess that would count as Dylan's apology in action!

Zachary shouldered his pack, and we hiked into camp together. The boys were beaming with pride and accomplishment when they dropped their packs after completing just over eight miles. We all pitched in to cook a meal of chicken and noodles, explored camp, built a fire, hung our food, played some flashlight games and went to bed about 9:00 PM. Our beds felt really good after a long day of hiking. We talked in bed a while, then drifted off to sleep. All five Pioneer area shelters were filled on Saturday night... with considerate backpackers, and we enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep!

Saturday rest break... one of many!

Dylan was begging me to let him try to hand-catch a minnow... anything to do with fishing!

the falls at Mineral Springs

Dad and Dylan

Dad and Zachary

lunchtime on the trail... beef jerky, cheese, and GORP

stream crossing

"How many miles have we walked, Dad?"

"We're almost there, boys!"

Zachary, sporting a doo-rag soaked in a stream to cool him off

Saturday evening, Pioneer shelter #4

8.2 miles today... great job, boys!

exploring camp

I was apprehended by the "Flashlight Bandits"!

the beds feel good after a long day on the trail

Sunday morning, we were talking and thinking about getting out of our cozy sleeping bags, when Dylan said, "Dad, look at the spider above your head!" I looked up and saw this guy about four feet above my head. For size reference, the black dot to the right of Mr. Spider is a nail!

Sunday morning breakfast... oatmeal and hot chocolate

breaking camp

Traverse Creek

The trail ends here! +/- 13 miles weekend total!

Our hike to the car on Sunday was about 3.5 miles. We completed this by about noon; then we changed into clean clothes and ate lunch at one of the picnic areas. From the state park, we were within a 50 mile drive of the Cabela's store, nearest to our home, in Wheeling, West Virginia. We had never been to Cabela's, so we pointed the car south and spent several hours browsing and wishing we could afford a big shopping spree.

the boy has never seen so many fishing rods in one place!

Fortunately, the only black bear we saw this weekend!

Mannequins, these days!

Couldn't bring myself to buy it, but I'd wear it if I had one!

West Virginia geocaching... my first interstate geocache... with Interstate 70 in the background

Zachary mistook this sprinkler head for a geocache. It was just a few feet from the actual cache, and as I was retrieving the cache, I looked down to see him attempting to uproot the shopping center sprinkler system. That was worth a good laugh! We logged five West Virginia geocaches in the vicinity of the Cabela's shopping area.

It was just over a two hour ride back home, which put us arriving about 8:00 PM, tired and ready for a shower. It was great weekend, with perfect weather. Both boys had a blast, and both agreed they'd love to go again... although Zachary requested a little shorter mileage next time! (Honestly, I estimated the trip less, and I was surprised at the actual mileage when I analyzed the tracking from my GPS unit... see below). No problem, Zachary, we can do that. To quote Dylan during the trip, "We needed this, Dad!" I agree... we did need this. Great job, guys... thanks for a great weekend!

Racoon Creek Saturday

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Raccoon Creek Sunday

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sunday was one of those days that might have been the perfect autumn day in Ohio... sunny, dry and breezy; with temperatures in the upper 60's and leaves near their peak color, both on the trees and crunching underfoot. After church and dinner, it was obvious that hiking would be a must.

We used to live in an area that was abundant with local hiking options, but when we moved here (only about 40 miles) we discovered that we are in a hiking dead zone. With few trail options under a half hour drive, we get a little bored with the same trails. I got on the internet to search for more options, and, to my surprise, I found something I had previously missed. Less than a half hour from our home, I discovered a large property, owned by a private college, but open to the public. With two main trails, the shorter of which is 2.4 miles, it seemed worth a try. The GPS took us straight to the trailhead, and we loved what we found... a mature forest of maple, beech, oak and evergreens, with well maintained trails and no crowds.

Benny usually rides in the backpack carrier, but I decided it was a good day to introduce him to actual hiking. We hiked the 2.4 mile trail and I started off with the carrier empty to see how he would do. Jen was a little aprehensive about letting him roam on his own (his walking and balance is still delayed and he is fairly unsteady on his feet). But, since he goes to physical therapy sessions two days per week, I figured we'd do some physical therapy, Daddy style. After all, what could be better developmental physical therapy than negotiating the tree roots, dry stream beds, inclines and declines of a hiking trail? I held his hand only when I felt it necessary for his safety, but basically let him hike and explore on his own. He fell many times, but he had a blast. He loved the crunchy leaves and stopped to explore many aspects of nature along the way. It was so fun to watch him come alive in the woods, and he hiked over 3/4 of a mile before I put him in the carrier... not bad for a just-turned-two year-old!