Thursday evening I brought out one of the toys that I borrowed for field testing, a night vision scope. Overall, it worked rather well, Bridgette and Lynnette loved it. We used it to see more stars than you could imagine. The evening was wrapped up with a few drinks and conversation around the campfire.
Friday morning some of us were up bright and early to go find some elk. The caravan included Kari, the girls and Tony in Kari’s van plus Gerry and Jack in my truck. It wasn’t long before we found the elk either. There was a small herd of 11 right on Route 555 about 5 miles from the camp. The herd was split onto both sides of the road enjoying a morning meal.. The herd bull was on the southern side of the road about 40 yards away with 6 cows and 4 cows were on the northern side of the road. As I got out of the truck I heard one of the northern cows calling and I got an idea. I grabbed my Primos “Lead Cow and Calf” call and went to work. After 2 or 3 mating calls the herd bull turned toward us and loudly bugled. What a way to start the morning!!! If you’ve never heard an elk bugle it’s one of the most haunting and mysterious sounds in the woods.. After hearing that I grabbed my Primos Terminator Bugle call and imitated his bugle to make him think that there was another bull in the area. The herd bull bugled again so I came back with a few more cow calls. This really got the herd bull going; he bugled several more times and then started visiting each cow to see if she was the one making the mating calls. He eventually worked his way towards us and the four cows on the northern side of the road. At one point the bull was maybe 10 yards from us. Everyone, especially the girls couldn’t believe the experience. I can still see the look in Bridgette’s eyes after the first bugle; they were as big as saucers!
We continued on our way that morning and drove to the top of Winslow Hill which is the most popular place for elk viewing in the area. The fog was very heavy on top of the mountain so we couldn’t see much. We were lucky enough to find a group of three bulls though, two of which were sparring with each other. One was a large, probably former herd bull and the other was a younger bull just beginning to feel his oats. We couldn’t see much because they were just inside some brush but you could hear them and at times make out what was going on. I think that the larger bull was just toying with the youngster; he was much larger in the body and had more than twice the amount of antler mass. After watching them for a short time we all agreed that it was time for breakfast so we set a course for the lodge.
After breakfast, most of the crew(Frank, Jack, Gerry, Tony, Pete, Joe and Lynnette) decided that it was time for a hike. As everyone got ready, I double checked my photography equipment. I had a list of places to find to determine if they would be suitable viewing areas for later in the trip and the future. I promised the crew that I would get them to the trailhead for the Fred Woods Trail which isn’t regarded as a very difficult trail but promised plenty of rock formations and overlooks. Before leading them to the trailhead I took everyone to an overlook that I found earlier this year. This overlook offers stunning views of the surrounding country; everywhere that you look all that you see is mountains. While we were at this overlook we were treated to an incredible fly-by of an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. The plane must have been practicing low-level terrain following as it disappeared into a valley north of the overlook then soon roared back up above the mountains.
I dropped off the hiking crew, made sure that most of them had some sort of fluorescent orange on for safety then I went on my own way. I didn’t have much luck with what I wanted to do but I did get to do some off-roading in my truck. Frank, Gerry, Pete and Jack had the good fortune to see a large black bear after they finished the hike! After being nearly three miles into the forest, they saw the bear right near an intersection with Route 555. Judging by their pictures, it appears to be about a 300+ pound bear. While I was on my little adventure I eventually ran into Kari and Bridgette who went to meet Kari’s sister and parents who decided to come to Elk Co. for the day. I took them to a few spots and they joined me in my luckless quest for new viewing areas for a while.
Late Friday afternoon, Pete, Lynnette and I again went looking for elk. This time we found them in a field on Winslow Hill. The first herd was made up of 14 cows and a herd bull. We got a lot of pictures of this herd and I was able to get some great shots of the herd bull as he was resting near the edge of the field. On our next stop a short distance away, we found two more groups of elk. The first herd had 11 cows and a herd bull, the second group was a bachelor bull group of three: Two spike bulls and a raghorn (small, multi-point) bull. These were quite a distance from us and I was the only one able to get pictures of them, unfortunately the pictures were too blurred for my tastes. From this same area, I spotted another herd to the east of us. Because the herd was on the move, we jumped into the truck and quickly drove to the vicinity of the herd. In a matter of a few minutes, we were out of the truck trying to spot the herd but we were too late. The herd disappeared into the woods already, when I first saw this herd I was able to make out through my binoculars two bulls sparring and eight cows. We moved on further down Winslow Hill and found two more smaller bulls bedded in another field. I believe that these were two of the bulls that we saw in the same area that morning but because I never clearly saw them I couldn’t be sure. What an evening of critter viewing the three of us had!! In a little over two hours we saw 42 elk; that was more than we saw in three days last year! The total for the day had risen to 56.
Friday evening we all relaxed around the campfire, told a story or two, had some ‘smores and planned for the next day.
Saturday morning dawned crisp and much clearer than Friday, there was a light fog in the valley and the mountain tops were clear. Frank, Tony and I decided to venture out in search of more elk. We were driving along Route 555 when Tony spotted our first elk of the day. It was a rather large bull that had probably lost his harem to another bull. He was walking through a campground and never stopped long enough to provide us with a chance of clear pictures. We drove towards Benezette to check out a couple of places that we saw elk last year. Those places brought us no elk but as we were returning to the Benezette area we found four elk right beside the road at an intersection. This small group was made up of a large bull and three cows. Frank and Tony were able to lean out the windows of my truck and take pictures since the elk were maybe 20 feet from us. From this quick stop we drove up onto Winslow Hill again, at the first viewing area, we saw some elk to the east of us in the same field that I spotted the third herd from the night before. We quickly went there and saw another 8 cows and a herd bull. They didn’t stay around for long though, maybe 10 minutes and they disappeared into the woods. Our next stop was at the main viewing area on Winslow Hill. There were no elk visible in the immediate area but through my binoculars I spotted movement in a field at least a half mile away. Through the spotting scope I was able to make out 4 cows in a field. From the main viewing area, we made our way back to the lodge. While we were driving up Grant Hill Road we saw a few cars pulled over so we got out to take a look at what was going on. There in a small clearing near the driveway of a camp was another herd of 10 elk, 9 cows and a herd bull. Frank and Tony did their best to get pictures while I used my calls to try to get the bull to bugle. Another 24 elk added to our total for the weekend.
After breakfast, everyone got ready for the balance of the day. All of the folks at the lodge except for me were meeting some other Meet-In folks at the Straub Brewery in St. Mary’s then heading to Dubois for lunch. That was covered here previously. I spent the rest of my day exploring new territory. There is so much forest in this area that you could spend years getting to know it all, that’s what I came to Elk County for in the first place.
I started by following a road that turns off of Route 555 near Weedville. According to my maps, this should take me deep into the Moshannon State Forest. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/stateforests/moshannon.aspx
I made my way on this road which eventually climbed about 15-1800 feet above the valley. As the road leveled off again I came to an area that was clearcut of trees about two years ago. This area was maybe 5 acres in size with a lot of brush and cut logs lying around. I decided to park the truck and explore a little. I grabbed the camera and GPS and made my way through the clearcut. I saw nothing exciting until I was back at the truck getting ready to move on; I was just looking around when I saw a melanistic chipmunk run across a log. This guy wasn’t a full albino because he had black ears and 2 black stripes on his tail; the rest of his body was white. I checked out my map book and saw that I was about 10 miles from the Quehanna Wild Area. The Quehanna Wild Area is a 48,000 acre area that is considered the most unpopulated part of the state. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/oldgrowth/quehanna.aspx
Michelle and I spent a little bit of time in the Quehanna Wild Area last year and I fell in love with it. I got to the Marian Brooks Natural Area which at this time of the year is something to see. The fall colors on the white birch trees were just incredible.
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/stateforests/moshactivities.aspx
While in the Marion Brooks area I found a 4WD trail and made my way into the forest. As I was driving down the trail, I saw something slither across the path in front of the truck. I knew it was a snake but I couldn’t swerve, I just hoped that he saw the tires and stopped until I was past. I continued down the trail and found a small mud hole that I just had to play in. There was no resisting this urge for me; I shifted into 4WD-Low and hit the gas. The mud was only about 6 inches deep but I was laughing to beat the band. I had rooster tails of mud flying from all four tires. The mud was really thin though so not much of it stuck to the truck.
I finished playing in the mud and made my way back down the same trail that I came in on before. When I got to where I saw the snake I realized that he didn’t wait for me to pass. I got out of the truck to check him out and saw that it was no ordinary snake, it was a Timber Rattlesnake around 30” long!!!! I’d never seen a rattler in the woods before. I picked him up with a stick and threw him into the woods. He was dead so I knew there was no chance of harm. As I was coming to the end of the trail and getting ready to turn back onto the Quehanna Highway I said to myself “I should have taken a picture of that snake”, I was already a few miles from it. Shortly after that I realized that I should have cut the rattles off too. Oh well, an opportunity missed is an opportunity lost. I continued on to explore some of the Dent’s Run valley and returned to the old stomping grounds of the Hicks Run valley. By this time it was coming close to 4 PM so I decided it was time to head back to the lodge to find something for dinner.
Shortly after I returned to the lodge, the rest of the crew showed up as well. Kari and her daughters had an obligation on Sunday so they went home after finishing lunch at the restaurant. Saturday evening turned into a night of a little alcohol fueled mayhem. Before I got too much alcohol into me I asked if anyone was interested in going back to the overlook that we were at on Friday. Gerry, Frank and Jack all agreed that it would be something to see at night. They were all a little ahead of my with the alcohol so I said that I would drive, I’d had maybe two drinks, I was safe. A little over 30 minutes later we were at the overlook. This was something to see, even with a half moon in the sky. Using the night vision we were able to pick out a vast number of stars. Frank, Gerry and Jack decided to take a little hike out to the edge of the overlook, which is just under a mile from the truck. I was content to stay where I was and look at the stars. The three amigos eventually made their way back to the truck and we started off towards the lodge. I took them down the road I found in April. At that time I gave this road a “Pucker Factor” of 8.5 due to the mud and rain, this time it wasn’t as bad but my passengers were still impressed that as they looked out the window to the left they were looking at the tops of trees that were less than 100 feet away. Yes, the cliff was that sharp and no, there weren’t any guard rails.
When we got back to Route 555 we faced a 30 minute ride back to the lodge, Frank handed me a CD and said “Put this in, Gerry will love it.” In second Gerry was going nuts, the CD was Lords of Acid. I had never heard this before and I found it uuummmm…..interesting. This is coming from a true, confessed country boy and redneck. I was actually getting into the songs but in the back of my head I was singing the Dukes of Hazard theme song. We were going to be on a dirt road soon and I was gonna show these three amigos a little good ol’ boy thrill. When we got to Grant Hill Road, which leads to the cabin, I said “I’m going for a new hill climb record on this road, hold on!” Now Grant Hill Road is steep, winding and dirt after the first quarter of a mile. I hit 45 mph on the climb. That may not sound like much but if you knew this road you’d be impressed. Gerry and Frank were suddenly quiet in the back seat, bracing themselves against the front seats; Jack was white knuckled on the two grab handles in the passenger seat. I was laughing and singing…”Just a good ol’ boy….never meaning no harm…” We got back to the lodge and the three amigos all said the hill climb was great, please don’t do it again. I said shoot, in my younger days I’d have hit at least 60. I did a lot of dirt road driving years ago and I’m a little rusty now.
After we got back to the cabin things got a little crazy. Gerry decided to dance with a stuffed bear, I was imitating Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Jack was egging us both on. Someone mentioned that Gerry always wanted to ride the lazy susan on the kitchen table, that wasn’t good for her though. We thought that she was going to turn a little green.
Sunday morning it was time to clean up and get ready to head for home. In what seemed like no time at all, our Elk County trip for the year was over.
There were some low points to the trip as well. Friday morning the well ran dry and we had no water in the lodge. We were somewhat upset about that but there were other cabins that were part of Medix Run Lodges and there were two bathhouses located there which was just a short trip down the mountain. Luckily we had a few cases of bottled water for drinking. I also ran into some rude people through the day on Saturday. Whether they were locals sick of the tourists or tourists themselves I can’t say. That was the first time in a long while that I ran into rudeness like that in Elk County or anywhere else outside of the city. Normally folks are very friendly.
All in all, it was another great trip and as far as I know, a good time was had by everyone. We’ve already talked about doing it again next year but we’ll consider a different lodge, this is the second year in a row that we ran out of water.
I’m ready to go back right now.
As usual, you can view all of my digiscope pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/richwiz34
