Black Forest Trail - Slate Run, PA
Where: Slate Run, PA
Distance: 42.44 Miles
Type: Loop trail
Difficulty: Moderate to Very Rugged
Time to Complete: most do it in 4 days, 3 nights
Vertical Rise: at least 10,000 ft.
Highlights: Waterfalls, streams, mountain springs, and some of the best views in PA.
Water: Sources every 3 or 4 miles, could be up to 10 miles between sources during dry spells.
Blazes: Orange dots (1 dot straight - 2 dots turn)
Summary: There are many steep climbs on the BFT, but the vistas are spectacular and well worth the effort.
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Me and John decided to check out the Black Forest Trail, no map, no plan, overstuffed packs (John took a whole squeeze bottle of mayonaise with him), and not enough water. I'm surprised we didn't seriously injure ourselves. We hiked down to Slate Run and lost the blazes when it crossed the water. So we turned around to do the trail backwards, and hiked about 900' up over less than 3 miles. After losing our way a few times, J.P. deduced that 2 blazes on the trail meant a turn was coming up. But it was getting dark by this time, so we had to call it a day at Foster's Pond. .
The next day, we tried to hike onward, but John pulled his groin and we had to pack out. We were almost out of water anyway. Still, the BFT was beautiful, at least what we saw of it. Total distance after screwing around on side trails and what-not: 10 miles in 2 days.
May 2002
Curtis (known as Operator on the AT - logged 1100 miles in one section) and I went back to the BFT and hiked it in reverse because the trail was so crowded for Memorial Day weekend. The first day, we were startled by a rattlesnake about a foot off of the trail early in the hike. We ended up having to camp at Foster's Pond because we got such a late start.
The next day we met this hiker, Captain Bobo, on the trail and traded some good ideas about bringing alcohol on the trail. Because of the weight, it only makes sense to bring Bicardi 151 or some real nasty whiskey with you if you're going to drink. (Let me just say that drinking will dehydrate a hiker and is a really bad idea.) Anyway, we hung for a bit, got a good buzz on, and continued hiking. Bobo said he lost his altimeter watch up where we were going, we looked, but never found it.
We did find the sweetest mountain spring, (mile 37.78,) my first and favorite to this day. Cold, clear, and delicious, we drank it right from the ground. We camped at Naval Run Hollow (mile 30.84) after mistakenly following the Naval Run trail for about a mile and having to backtrack.
We did the math and figured out that after two days, we had only hiked 11.6 miles in the right direction. We thought we had better find an alternate route, because there was no way we were going to finish the BFT this trip.
We hiked out the Naval Run trail to Naval Run Rd. to Slate Run Rd., back to the trailhead and the car. Then followed the trail to mile 7.20 where we camped for the third night. Along the way, the spring at mile 3.04 was so refreshing on such a hot day, we had to bottle it up on the way out to drink when we got home.
While we were hiking out, Curtis sat down for a rest at a vista and didn't notice there were FOUR rattlesnakes all sunning themselves within 4 to 6 ft. of him on the rocks. They didn't seem to mind and neither did we, so we had something to eat and left. Total distance: about 30 miles in 72 hours.
Early September 2002
Curtis and I tried the BFT again a few months later with our friend, Brandy. We got started about noon on a Monday, crossing a nearly dry Slate Run soon after. We finished the first tough climb of about 1200' and stumbled onto the vista at mile 2. Curtis then revealed that he stuck a small rock in my pack to add a little weight as a joke. Damn! I was the last one up the mountain too, what a dick!
Later on, we passed the spring at mile 3 and all that great mountain spring water we drank last May was dried up completely. Most of the waterfalls further up were gone as well. Finally we found one that was still flowing at the foot bridge crossing of Morris Run, it felt wonderful to dunk my head after hiking all day. We camped at mile 9.96, next to a dried up brook.
The next day (day 2), about mile 13, we found a decent water source and a blackberry patch, (mmmm!) I never found any blueberries on the BFT, even though they were supposed to be everywhere. (Probably just don't know what they look like in the wild.) Brandy accidentally peed on a rattlesnake and we camped near a dribble of what used to be a mountain stream at mile 22.63.
Day 3, we took the Old Cut Off Trail after mile 23 and hiked up to the sweetest view on the top of Hemlock Mountain. Camped at Foster's Pond and saw no less than 5 shooting stars within 15 minutes that night.
Day 4, hiked out the last 3 miles to the trailhead. Total distance: 38 miles in 72 hours.