Trees Along the West Branch
Garfield as the Life of the Party
Wilcox Lake – Willis Lake Trail
The Wilcox Lake – Willis Lake Trail runs between those two lakes. Willis Lake is a largely developed lake at the end of Pumpkin Hollow Road off NY 30, south of Wells while Wilcox Lake is located about two miles from Bakerstown, which is about five miles west of Harrisburg. The trail is relatively flat with minor, rolling changes in elevation. Designated as wild-forest mountain bikes are allowed on it, however it is rough riding in portions and better hiked with bridges and trees to portage over. The trail winds through miles of secluded woodlands, crossing a few minor streams and wetlands.
You can park at one of the campsites along Pumpkin Hollow Road past Willis Lake or along the road if you can get far off the road shoulder. The end of Pumpkin Hollow Road past that last inholding, a hunting camp, is quite rough and narrow, so you might want to park before the hunting camp.
Crossing the Doing Creek on a snowmobile bridge, a short distance from the parking area.
Much of the woods is quiet, very unremarkable, passing several wetlands like this section of the Wilcox Lake Outlet.
Once you start approaching Wilcox Lake, the trail climbs somewhat over a hill. But when you reach it, wilcox Lake is quite scenic.
And there are two lean-tos that can be found on Wilcox Lake.
While not the shortest route to Wilcox Lake, the hike over to Wilcox from Willis is an enjoyable day-time activity, especially if combined with camping on Pumpkin Hollow Road.
Alternative routes to Wilcox Lake include from Hope Falls Road along the East Stony Creek, and west from Harrisburg Lake Road – where there are campsites – through the Bakerstown Camp Inholding, and back to the lake. I’ve done all three routes back to Wilcox Lake, all of them are enjoyable in different ways.
ARE Self Doubt
Maybe I am getting a bit inpatient on the new truck cap as the weekend approached, but at least I had a bit of comfort that there is a good chance it gets installed next week. I had a feeling that ARE would play these games, they are famous for post-panademic delays.
At times I also find myself questioning my decision to get a fiberglass cap when there are so many alternatives, but I liked my old set up, and it was reliable, mostly waterproof and with bug screens and side-windows I like. The fiberglass caps aren’t the toughest material, but they have sufficient load carrying capacity at 150-200 lbs for a 65 lb kayak on the roof and the two solar panels which together only weight about 30 lbs. And I didn”t want something too top heavy like a slide-out camper, but did want the extra height of the ARE MX sloped cap – even if I have some questions in my mind about the impact on fuel economy.
Maybe I should have explored alternatives more. Maybe I’m too stubborn and just wanted to built my new rig like Big Red. Yet, I didn”t want the weight, high or complexity of a full-slide in camper, even if the one-ton axle of an F-350 could handle that kind of weight. Not that I necessarily was even set on the one-ton axle, but I ultimately went with because that’s the truck that otherwise met my needs, and I wanted something bigger and heavier duty then a half ton, but I would have been just as happy with a 3/4 ton. And I keep chewing over the short-bed vs long-bed, though really for getting through the woods and into smaller campsites, the shorter wheel base is superior.
It will be a great rig. Once I get over my self doubt and questioning. And the cap is finally delivered.
Squirrel Hill Interchange
"The Squirrel Hill Interchange of I-376 is one of the most notoriously awful roads in Pittsburgh. It was opened June 5, 1953, and will be completely reconfigured beginning in 2029. PennDOT has three proposals, and in this video I cover what those would look like as well as how the current interchange functions."
