Hawk Mountain - Appalachian Trail Weekend

Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation

4 through 6 April 2008

For the second time in three years, Scouts and leaders from Troop 461 set out to try their luck on a 10-mile section of the Appalachian Trail in Berks County.  As was the case in 2005, our base camp was the Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation in Schuylkill Haven, Berks County.  As is our tradition, the Scouts pitched their tents together in one area of our campsite (below left) and the adult leaders were quartered in a separate area (below right).  Friday evening and early Saturday saw scattered rain showers but fortunately, the rains held off so that we could set up our tents without having to dodge the raindrops.  While the Scouts settled for tents of more modest dimensions, ASM Ernest Gambone brought along his portable mansion that we had previously christened the Casa Gambone.  Casa Gambone is an impressive structure once erected and can fit four adults comfortably with their gear.  It also features a nice enclosed porch or portico area. 

One of the nice features about the campsites at Hawk Mountain is that the sites come equipped with a pavilion complete with a number of picnic tables that can be used as a kitchen/mess/gathering area.  For some strange reason, the kitchen area always seemed to be the most popular area of the campsite.  In the photo below left, several troop members enjoy a snack on Friday night after setting up camp.  Below left, Scouts enjoy a hot breakfast prior to setting out for the Appalachian Trail.

Not being too adventurous, we had decided to hike the same portion of the Appalachian Trail that we had hiked back in November of 2005.  The theory was that at least some of the Scouts and leaders were familiar with that portion of the trail and that familiarity would lessen the chance of getting lost.  So, after a hot breakfast on Saturday morning and packing a field lunch, nine Scouts and four adult leaders set off for the trail.  The photo below left shows the group at the beginning of their trek where the Appalachian Trail crosses PA Route 501 in Bethel Township, Berks County.  Assistant Scoutmasters Andrew Cowles, Tom Isban and Ernie Gambone are in the back row of the group photo.  Missing is Scoutmaster Tim Wile, who took the photo.   Well, the best laid plans of Scouts often do not survive their first brush with reality and ours was no exception.  An old saying goes that even the longest journey begins with the first step, but often making sure that first step is in the right direction is a task that is easier said than done.  Despite the fact that one of our adult leaders and several of our older Scouts had hiked this very same portion of the Trail back in November of 2005, we once again had a difficult time following the Trail markings no sooner than we had travelled some 100 meters into the woods.  The Trail was supposed to be marked by blazes of white paint on trees, but those white blazes were not as easy to find in the woods as we were led to believe.  For the first hour of our trek, we wandered around the woods in the area of Route 501 looking for some indication of where the Trail led eastward.  While we discovered a number of different colour blazes on the trees in the area immediately off of Route 501, finding the white markings that would show us the way safely eastward was becoming quite a task.