PA645 to PA443 (Swatara Gap) (10.90 Miles)

We hiked this section on April 18, 2009.

Python, B2 and Dirigo could not have picked a more beautiful day for a hike. The sun was shining brightly and the temperatures were in the high 70s during the entire hike.

We started at PA 645, which was the parking lot we saw the creepy guy at the last time we came up to this area. We followed an old road that was well graded that followed the ridge line.

We took a break about an hour into the hike at the William Penn shelter.

We walked down the blue blaze and first came to the privy and what looked like a shelter. Upon further inspection it was a small shed that housed garbage which had many bugs all around. Not something I expected to see near a shelter.

We continued to the shelter and had some snacks. It was a very nice shelter with a bunk area upstairs. There was a campsite across the AT on the blue blaze. It was very nice and had plenty of flat tent sites and a nice fire pit.

A little bit after the shelter we encountered a group of boy scouts. One of the adults in the group told us that the entire group consisted of 40 people and that they had spent the previous night at a nearby boy scout camp. The group was headed to the William Penn shelter that evening. I guess the boy scouts have never heard of Leave No Trace principles?

We walked the ridgeline for awhile and then came to some of the notorious PA rocks.

There are not a lot of landmarks on this hike so when we came to the sign that said "Abandoned Power line" we finally knew how many miles we had come. There was a nice overlook here and many turkey vultures riding the airways near the overlook.

As we hiked we could finally make out the highway which is I81 and the interchange we came in on. As we hiked the highway traffic got louder. We finally started our descent into Monroe Valley and Swatara State Park. We could still hear the traffic but could not see through the trees. The descent took a toll on our knees and feet and we took a short break. We sat on an old log and rested, and had a snack. Dirigo had run out of water so she was very thirsty, but Python still had some, so she shared. The heat and descent was taking a toll on our bodies. We finally got the energy to continue on.

We crossed an old road, which I believe was a bike path and got a good look at I81. We crossed under the bridge and walked on the road to Swatara State Park. There was a cave in the side of the road and I went over to take a look. Python said "that is where the monsters live".

The road walk really bites but finally we made it to the bridge that crosses over Swatara Creek.

We met a guy with a very large German Shepherd and another guy had a Pitbull.

Both dogs were very friendly and the German Shepherd was very well behaved, but as all Shepherds do, he could not walk a straight line-just like Zero.

We talked with them for awhile and then realized that we still had another 1.4 miles to hike so off we went. We crossed PA 72 and started to ascend. B2 was spent and her knees were very sore. A few ups and downs and then we ascended into a little field with a wide road, and around every corner we thought the car would be in sight, but oh no, another corner. Finally we could hear the traffic on PA443 and saw the car.

We loaded everything in the car and headed to get water as everyone was very thirsty, as the sun had really gotten to us all. We all got drinks at the store and ice cream at Dairy Queen. A nice reward for a good day!!!!!!

When we got back to our car at PA645, we had the pleasure of talking with a 2,000 miler named Silver Streak. Silver Streak was dropping her kids off for an overnight backpacking trip on the AT. We told her and her kids about the boys scouts who were suppose to be at the shelter. Silver Streak completed the AT 2 years ago after section hiking it for 22 years! She told us that the hardest part of the AT was the Mahoosuc Arm and that the White Mountains were tough!