2021 Five Day Thru Hike on the Baker Trail

Lightweight gear review part 2. Let's see what else Ben has been researching and testing in the lightweight hiking gear arena.

Ben walks us through his lightweight equipment.

Let's take a look at something commonly found in our mountains. These strange piles of rocks need to be identified. I'm not sure why they were created or when, but it would be good to solve this mystery.

We stopped at another bench. This one is near Hemlock Island in Cook Forest State Park. There is a waterfall behind us as well.

After hiking up the side of the mountain we stopped at the Scurry Overlook. Someone placed a bench there for hikers and we took full advantage of it. What a view of the Clarion River!

We started day three at Gravel Lick Bridge and continued North on the Baker Trail.

Let's take a look at the rest of Day Two of the hike. It rained a lot and I didn't get anymore footage.

We stopped at the Scurry Overlook to enjoy our lunch on a bench. We think Creighton is ready for more hiking.

As we start back, we decided to use the Seneca Trail to tackle the mountain.

We slept well and now our final day has begun. I'm finally syncing with nature's speed this morning. Usually it happens in about two days, but this trip it took four.

As we prep for the day's hike, let's talk about what I do to keep the mess kit prepped and ready for use on the trail.

Ben successfully whipped together a great tasting chili for us.

Living the high life... ;) I got the fire going and Ben is working on some homemade chili.

We woke up to a frosty morning in the valley. The temperature dropped pretty significantly once we got up and moving. So much so, that our dishes were covered in ice as we tried to wash them. Very interesting start to the day.

After restocking our food supplies, we decided to rent a cabin by the Clarion River and enjoy the rest of the day. MacBeth's opened up a cabin for us just to make sure we had a place to stay with a warm bed and a fire ring.

We ran out of light so we ended up doing a little stealth camping in one of the shelters. Kept warm next to a great fire and tried to dry our our feet a bit before rolling into our sleeping bags.

We found a public space on our way through Cook Forest so we stopped to see if the amenities were turned on and usable. Some were. Some weren't. We decided to cook dinner in one of the grilling stations before moving deeper into the woods to make camp.

A quick shot of our dinner for the night. It came together better than we expected.

As we hiked, we noticed a dead tree with most of the outer bark in a giant pile on the ground around the base of the tree. What causes this, I don't know. Let's take a look.

We walked over to the scenic overlook before continuing North on the Baker Trail.

Check out this really old section of Cook Forest. We found an old Eastern Hemlock stand and one in particular that looks to be about 200-250 years old.

I survived hiking up the second mountain. This time it ended at the Cook Forest Fire Tower. So far we have hiked the Baker Trail from Corsica to Cook Forest, PA.

After a chilly night with three bodies in a two person tent, we are up and moving and getting ready for the day. Ben gives us an overview of his gear.

Well it happened. On a day forecasted for rain and thunderstorms, I got a head start on being wet by falling into a stream we were crossing.

Making camp for the end of Day One. Opening the bucket of goodies, starting the camp fire and talking about dinner.