Tag: tuscarora state forest

W3/SV-024 Shade Mtn

To wrap up our long day of SOTA in and around Tuscarora State Park, we continued northeast along Licking Creek Drive until turning onto Spectacle Gap Road. All of these forest roads were in good shape but were gravel. Spectacle Gap climbs up to the ridge of Shade Mountain, and the road eventually ends at Campsite 9, a primitive campsite that is within this SOTA activation zone at the very boundary of the state forest. Here there is a picnic bench, fire pit, and remnants of a fire tower removed in the mid-90s, but not many other amenities at this campsite. The primitive spot can be booked for just $10 a night. It might be a fun place to work a PA QSO party from in future years, but it does get windy and potentially quite cold in October.

Climbing Spectacle Gap Road

The sun was setting and Luna was exhausted. We just checked out the campsite and then I set up and settled in for an enjoyable activation, working 42 QSOs, including a S2S with the dynamic duo of DJ WW7D and Josh WU7H on 15m (W7W/CW-065). I also notably worked (just barely) JH1MXV on 15m, all the way in Gunma Prefecture, Japan! The vibes here were just great!

Luna enjoying the evening sun.
Tuscarora State Forest campsite 9. The concrete pads are where the firetower once stood.

We were pretty pooped from the long day and stopped by Juniata Brewing Company back in Huntington for a celebratory dinner. Luna got a free (and large) dog biscuit!

  • Trailhead: 40.51361, -77.55951 : Tuscarora State Forest campsite 9
  • Map: [Tuscarora State Forest]
  • Route: Drive-on via Spectacle Gap Road
  • POTA: US-5479, Tuscarora State Forest

W3/SV-028 Blacklog Mtn

After wrapping our previous long hike and activation in Jacks Narrows, Luna and I headed into Tuscarora State Forest to do a few more new summits. I parked on Licking Creek Drive, where there is the option to hike either west to Blue Mountain W3/SV-030 or east to Blacklog Mtn W3/SV-028, two parallel ridges that the forest road runs between. We opted for the latter.

We followed the red-blazed Birch Run Trail, and shortly into the hike was a bridgeless creek crossing, about 10 feet across. The water level was just over a foot deep on this early spring day, so that’s something to be aware of when going for this hike.

Luna takes in Licking Creek.

Past the creek was a gentle climb to a small clearing and another trail sign, and here the trail gets much steeper and rockier, with a classic PA boulder field at some point. We continued up to the ridge and then left the trail for a final short, open bushwhack up along the ridge into the activation zone.

And it gets steeper!
And then rockier.

There are plenty of trees around and got my contacts. By this point, Luna understood the routine and sat calmly, letting me work for about 40 minutes to get 36 QSOs. On the way back, Luna had a big dog moment, sniffing out our own track and excitedly guiding us right back to the trail. Our path back followed exactly our route there, according to the GPS, so she did a great job!

Luna sniffing out our track for the return path.

At the end of this hike, I decided to check out the semi-famous “Campsite 009,” the site of W3/SV-024 Shade Mountain. I’ll have to come back here for Blue Mountain some time.

  • Trailhead: 40.39025, -77.75942 : by Licking Creek Road
  • Map:  [AA3TZ SOTA] [Tuscarora State Forest]
  • Route: 2.5 mile RT hike along Birch Run Trail, with a short ridgeline bushwhack; ~1000 feet of total elevation
  • POTA: US-5479, Tuscarora State Forest