French Creek State Park - My Two Day Adventure - Part 2 - Return to Six Penny

Date of Hike: Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Total Distance:  6.95 Miles

Avg speed:  1.77MPH

Avg moving speed:  2.08MPH

Moving Time:  3:20:06

Total Time:  3:55:47

Conditions:  Sunny, 72 degrees

Difficulty: Moderate with some difficult

Day two of my "supposed to be" three day adventure was at French Creek State Park. This time, I was camping out and loving every minute of it (almost). This time, my objective was to return to the Six Penny Trail and Day Use Area that had once been a popular swimming spot in the 1970's, since closed and abandoned after bacteria was found in the water. I had been there once before but since I hadn't explored the entire area, decided on returning which I did during the second day of my camping adventure.

On September 22, I had hiked at St. Peters Village and after I was done there, headed to the campgrounds. Here are a few shots I took on the first day/evening at the campsite. I chose one that was secluded from the rest and close to the trail so I wouldn't have to go far to get to it. Safe to say, the campsite I chose was perfect! I actually had to walk down a small hill and about 20 yards or so to get to the campsite, couldn't see the road and could hardly see my car.

During my visit, I took a walk around the loop I was in and noted that several of the campsites were small and quite close to the road. If you plan on camping there and live close enough, I'd recommend you take a ride (or hike) out there to look at the sites on each loop to find a decent one. Once you do and if you plan it properly, you can reserve a campsite to assure you get the one you're looking for, especially if it's in the prime of camping season.

 

I was standing on the trail when I shot the below picture, this is how close I was to it. 

 

View of fire pit and picnic table from next to where my tent was

A short time after setting up my tent, I got my first campfire of the adventure going.  One essential item I had forgotten to bring with me was something to get the fire started with so I had to cheat a bit and use a wrapper from one of my energy bars. I don't normally burn trash but I didn't leave myself much of a choice and after struggling for more than what I considered to be enough time, I gave in and used the wrapper. A little something to remember for my next camping adventure, which there will be more, is to bring something to start the fire with!

Close up pictures of fire seem to be a bit tricky!

This is the first time I've been able to go camping since I bought my tent last year and the first time in years I've been camping. Needless to say, just about everything I had with me, including the tent was all about trial and error and figuring out what works best and what doesn't. On my first night, I paid a price for that which I'll explain in a bit.

My tent is an Eureka Apex Solo

Sun setting on the evening of September 22, 2014

The following morning, I headed out on my second adventure in two days. This time, to explore more of the Six Penny Trail and Day Use Area.

Address of the park:
843 Park Rd
Elverson, PA 19520
GPS: 40.204912,-75.791385

Note that this is the address for the park itself, not the campground. 

Leaving the campsite, I headed west on the Boone Trail. 

 As you're hiking on the Boone Trail, it turns into a dirt road and you hike past a few of the group camping areas and picnic groves.

From the Boone Trail, I turned to the north on the Horse-Shoe Trail on my way to the Six Penny Trail area.

Instead of hiking the Horse-Shoe Trail all the way to the Six Penny Trail, I turned east on the Kalima Trail since it circles northward around to the opposite side of the day use area and I had never been on the Kalima Trail so it was a bit of exploration. I didn't take many pictures on the Horse-Shoe Trail since I had already been there (see the link to my other blog post above for pictures).

Alongside the Kalima Trail, there's another section of rocks similar to areas I've seen scattered throughout French Creek State Park and beyond. 

 

The Kalima Trail eventually leads back to the Six Penny Trail and from there, I approached the former Six Penny Day Use Area from the opposite side this time so I wouldn't miss anything that I had the last time I was there.

Old water fountain?

Old brick trail and the remains of a building on the right

Once I was done checking out the ruins to whatever building was there at one time, I returned back to where the day use area used to be. I've taken pictures of these areas before but with a different camera. 

Left over sand from the day use area?

Once I was done checking out the day use area again, instead of returning to the Six Penny Trail, I decided to follow the trail that ran upstream alongside the Six Penny Creek. A little further upstream, there were a few areas where walls had been built, I'm assuming to prevent erosion, and you could tell they had been there for a long time.

 A little further upstream, I found what was left of a few foot bridges and at this point, there was still somewhat of a trail although it was quite overgrown and obviously not used anymore.

After this foot bridge, the trail completely disappeared and for the second half of my hike alongside the Six Penny Creek, I had to bushwhack my way through. Thankfully, while there were some obstacles, none were so large that they forced me to turn back and I was able to go around or through them. 

I eventually made my way back to the Horse-Shoe Trail, then doubled back on the Six Penny Trail towards the day use area again. 

Alongside the Six Penny Trail, there are what look to be a few old spring houses but it was hard to tell since they're overgrown. 

This is another area I had explored when I was there the last time and had taken pictures with my other camera. Unfortunately, some of them had been overexposed so I went back to this spot to take some more pictures. 

Approaching the Six Penny Day Use Area again. Under this concrete fixture, you can hear running water and on the opposite side of the trail, the stream heads down a hill towards the Six penny Creek

Back to the Six Penny Day Use Area again

Bridge crossing over Six Penny Creek just downstream from the day use area, the same one I crossed when I first arrived

Looking upstream back to the wooden bridge

A little further downstream from the wooden bridge, a paved road crosses over the Six Penny Creek and leads to Geigertown Road. I hiked all the way to the road then doubled back to the Six Penny Trail.

Remains of an old fire pit

Another water fountain, or was this the same one? I don't remember!

My last shot was of the Six Penny Trail on my way back to the campground. Like earlier during my hike, I had already been on these trails so I didn't take many pictures.

After returning to the campground, I spent the rest of the day relaxing and gathering branches for kindling so I'd be prepared for the evening and getting a fire going. I still had to cheat to get the fire started but at least I had enough small branches and twigs to get a good fire going and keep it burning into the evening. I had purchased some split wood before heading to the campsite but found out the hard way that it was still wet.

I mentioned a few times that I had to cut my adventure short by a day. On the first night of my camping trip, I overinflated my air mattress and ended up putting too many layers on even though the temperature had dropped into the mid 40's that evening. With an overinflated air mattress and wearing too many layers, I didn't sleep well on the first night and when I woke up the following morning, my back felt like it had been twisted in directions it wasn't supposed to go and nagged me for the entire day when I was out hiking. Trying to step over branches and fallen trees was the toughest. As soon as I lifted my leg, it felt like someone was stabbing my lower back so I decided then it would be best not to go on another adventure.

The night of the 23rd, I slept like a baby and felt much better the following morning but my back was still in pain. As much as I wanted to go hiking again, I packed everything up and headed home from what has been my last adventure this season (for the time being). Along with the back pain that has since gone away, my left heel is still hurting more than a month after I first started to feel symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis. The pain isn't as bad as it used to be so it's a good sign but I'm also trying to be careful not to agitate it. Unfortunately, it's driving me nuts not being able to go hiking! Hopefully soon, I'll be able to pick it up again as I feel like I'm missing out on adventures I could have taken.

I did take one more adventure but it was with family and there wasn't much for hiking going on with the exception of a few short ones at the campsite we stayed at. I may post a few pictures from it but they'll mostly be scenery and not much for trails.

I'm not really sure when I'll be able to get out and go hiking again giving my heel is still being a nuisance. This means I'm not sure when I'll be posting on my blog again either. It's not a long distance hike so I may be heading back to High Rocks State Park (Ralph Stover) to get some pictures of the fall colors. If so, I'll update then too!

Until next time, happy exploring and happy hiking!

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