Well, I finally conquered switchbacks 2&3. It certainly took long enough to get it done. With the weather being so radical, it was difficult to know when it was a good time to go. Plus, the logistics of where to start and finish.. I am fortunately enough to have met a resident in the area who is quite knowledgeable about the B&S and has explored it himself. Without Chris’ help, I probably wouldn’t have done the whole thing.
The original plan was to drive me all the way up Junction Rd and drop me off where it crosses the ROW at the gate, where I got hung up last year with my car. But the previous weekend, it snowed so hard that Rt44 was difficult to drive on and Junction Rd wasn’t even plowed. So we postponed the adventure until this past weekend. But the next big rain storm hit with lots of flooding in the area. So we decided to hold off day by day in hopes most of the run-off water would……run off.
The weather had calmed down enough that we met this past Sunday. Not the best day to do it but I didn’t want to wait anymore. I met my friend Chris in Shinglehouse, Pa and drove separately to the base of 2&3 on East Forks Rd. I moved all my gear to his pick-up truck and then he drove me all the way back up and over to Junction Rd. The road was still impassible. I gotta tell ya, when he turned around and left me there on my own, I really felt alone. It wasn’t real bad because several people knew the precise path that I was taking and would know where to find me in the “unlikely event of an emergency.”
So, I put on my skies and off I went. It turns out, Junction Rd is a lot harder to ski on than the switchbacks. The road was completely packed down by snowmobiles into pure ice. Skiing on ice with x/c skies is not easy. The first ¼ of the road was up hill. That was hard enough. But, as I past the tower, it went all down hill….with lots of curves! I don’t really think I was in that good of control of myself. I kept trying to keep at least one ski in a snowmobile track and the other one snowplowing so as to keep the direction and speed under control. The plan of action, if I lost control when approaching a sharp curve was…fall down…quickly!! Junction Rd at this point is maybe 100 feet above the B&S row. It’s a long way down. Lots of trees to stop you though.
Eventually, I could see the row starting to rise from below on my left and I could see the crossing. I took some video as I came down the road. I wanted to keep it going all the way to the end but 8 snowmobilers came up the opposite direction so I didn’t want to fall in front of them and get run over while filming. So I stopped and let them pass. Not very nice people. None of them waved.
As I write this, I realize that I stopped in a good spot. Had I kept going, I would have missed an important Kodak Moment. In the above posts, I mention concrete abutments. Chris explains that it was a RR crossing bridge. Not auto. To my right, thanks to the fallen snow, I could see the row leading to the abutments. This is the Cross Forks yard area. This row crossed over the SB track and curved to the left and headed south towards Cross Forks. You can just make out the original curve in the Mapper link below near marker D. I had mistakenly thought that the Cross Forks yard was further west near Conrad. I will have pictures and diagrams available at some point.
I skied down to the entry point where the fence is blocking the row. Of course, I ignored it and kept going. I also noticed that someone almost put there truck into the same ditch I did. But they stopped. Lucky guy!
The only unfortunate part of this day is that it wasn’t sunny out like last year when I skied #4. So my pictures are less dazzling but still pretty good., The snow on most of the switchback averaged 1 foot deep. But, with no one else on it, I had to cut my own path. It wasn’t easy because even though it was pretty dense it wouldn’t hold my weight and I’d sink a little bit as I went. Thank God it was down hill.
Over all, the row is in pretty good shape. There are some areas where large Fern trees are growing which will eventually damage the row. There are a couple of small cuts along the way which made it more scenic. I skied to the very end of each switchback. As I came off the last curve heading into 3, I noticed that it is really beginning to be taken over my bushes and trees. Within several years, it will be impossible to ski on. I had to ski on the very edge [100 feet to the bottom] to get around one patch of trees. Even the animals are walking around them.
I skied to the end of 3 and rested and ate my snack. As the line approaches the end, it kinda forms a bowl as the line is surrounded but two hills. I didn’t stay for long not knowing who’s foot prints were in the snow. So, down I started on the segment towards 2. It was interesting here because the huge Fern trees blocked the snowfall so that it kept patches of the ROW clear of snow which I had to cross. There was no evidence of a RR here. I couldn’t even see any ballast. Either it was removed long ago or its just buried in dirt. Other than that, not much different than the segments above until I got to the curve for 2.
It appears that this area was used for dumping. The row was no longer smooth. Snow still covered everything but I’m pretty sure a dump truck had made it’s way up here. But it had to be many years ago because small trees were growing out of it. But as the lower row started to come into view near the last of the curve into 2, it smoothed out. And more animal tracks were evident. There was also water streaming below which I knew I was going to have to cross.
I skied up to the end of 2 and into the bowl. As I stood there looking around, I followed where the animal tracks went. Hmmm, what’s the fuzzy thing over there? Then I realized that a sizable animal had been killed and stripped of everything. The only thing lying there was fur. No skeleton.
I wasted no time in turning around and start down the final section of ROW before coming to my exit at the meadow. More trees growing on this section and a couple of fallen trees that I had to get around. Then I came to several wash outs. There was no way around them so I had to walk across each of them. Not really a big deal as the water was only 1 inch deep. I’m glad I waited a couple of days. Sad to see these because the ROW will be torn apart over the years and become impassible.
When I got to my car, I looked up at the mountain and it gave me a proud feeling that I skied it. From Junction Rd back down to my car took about 4 hours. I averaged about 50 minutes between switchbacks.
Next on the list is SB #1. My friend has potential contacts in the area and we’ll research the possibility of getting permission to ski it. But that’s for next year. This year….I think I’m done.
Pictures will be posted eventually.
Below is the link to the Acme Mapper. I have marked where I was and is as follows:
A; Shinglehouse
B: Parking at base of 2&3 on East Fork Rd
C; Drop off point on Pa44 @ Junction Rd.
D: Beginning of SB 3
E: SB 3
F: SB 2
G: Exit point and back to B.
Click here:
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=41.65752,-77 ... ounty%20PA
