Looking Down Into the Valley of the Elk

The mornings are starting to be chilly, and you know what that means: time for fall backpacking season to begin! My husband and I are not much for camping out during the high heat of summer; rather, spring and fall are our favorite times for camping. And here's the news: fall is coming, fall is coming!

We looked at the forecast for the coming few days, and while we talked about going on a car camping trip to Kinzua (more on that some future day), in the end, we decided that less driving time would mean more backwoods time. So we went on our first late summer/early fall backpacking trip to Quehanna, and in particular to a favorite back country site in the Valley of the Elk.

It has been months and months since I've been backpacking, and so the getting ready part was nearly mind-boggling. I generally pack the morning that we are leaving, and Dexter (ever the helpful Tabbycat) assists in readying the backpacking gear. He is especially good at inspecting the sleeping bags.

So we set up the automatic feeder for the cat, and by shortly after noon, we were leaving the house and on our way to Quehanna. We parked the car, strapped on our backpacks and our gear (easier than it sounds - picture a Chinese laundry, with stuff strapped on everywhere), and walked down into the Valley of the Elk.

The sky was variable, and so we walked in under both clouds and sun. The online forecast had said there was a chance of showers between 4 and 6 pm, but we didn't take it too seriously. A long row of beautiful, crisp, blue-sky, sunny days would be waiting just behind the clearing clouds.

We walked through some of the most amazing, robust, abundant fields of poison ivy that I have ever seen. Quehanna has always been legendary for poison ivy, but I think this year, it's reached new levels. Every single field is covered in it. The leaves are bright and green and shiny. The Quehanna backpacker's prayer goes something like this: "Dear Lord, please don't let me trip. And if I do, please don't let me land face-down in the poison ivy!"

Before 3 pm, we were in our campsite. The sky was looking a bit iffy, so I put my tent up right away. My husband, who usually waits till later, did so. We make a game of it. "Putting up your tent, I see," he'll say to me. "Naw," I lie, as I shake my head, meanwhile assembling my tent poles, shoving them through the buckles on the tent. (We do the same thing when taking them down. It's a pretenders' game. I have no idea why.)

And then all of my gear goes inside - blankets on the floor, three sleeping pads, sleeping bag - and I am set! I put up the tent and then toss my fly inside. (My campsite looks like this in winter, and like this in most other seasons. Although these days I take my newer tent - which you can see here - than the one in those two pictures.) With the work of my day behind me, all that's left is to relax! My husband stowed his gear not far from mine, where he would set his own tent up later. And then we grabbed some snacks and some drinks and went out to sit on our big rock overlooking the Valley of the Elk.

But soon, I couldn't help myself, and I was scampering down the steep hill, trying to get a better look at the stream. Despite Saturday's rains, the water was lower than I've ever seen it in the creek. This creek, one of the many tributaries of Mosquito Creek, eventually joins the mighty Susquehanna River at Karthaus. (Sidebar: and I do, by the way, highly recommend the homemade chili that you can purchase for a very reasonable price at Benton's Market in Karthaus. If you are an outdoors person who is starving - or even an indoors person who is starving - their chili can be a lifesaver!)

So anyway, this was my view of the creek under partially clearing skies. In the foreground of the shot is the place along the creek where I once found an elk horn. And there is the gnarly tree that I like, right in the middle of the frame. I have shown it to you before, and once again, I got close enough so that I could capture some reflection shots of that tree on water. Near the tree, there are footprints in the mud. In my travels, I have spotted both spoor and footprints of elk, hooray!

And then I scampered back up the hill and we headed back to our campsite. And my husband put up his tent; good timing, too, because around 6 pm, it began to DRIZZLE! Now, in the pine forest where we usually camp, it takes a solid rain to actually make any kind of impact. It drizzled on and off, nothing serious - and later we headed back out to the rock to watch the evening sky. At 8:20 pm, we heard a sound. What was THAT!? Why, yes, how marvelous! The BUGLING OF THE ELK!!!!

My husband stayed at this campsite a year or two ago during mid-September, and he was kept awake all night by the bugling of the elk. Fall is the mating season, and things can get pretty crazy. He thought it was neat for a few hours, but then he got impatient; he couldn't sleep through the loud and endless bugling. So these days, we take earplugs when we go camping in Quehanna, just in case. I am happy to report that on this trip, we had neither too little nor too much bugling, but just the right amount . . . to make you feel like you were in a wild space, but not enough so to interrupt your sleep.

Shortly after 9 pm, a heavy, damp mist blew in off the field, and I put my fly on the tent and carefully stuffed my backpack inside too. And then I crept inside myself, and lay my head down, and immediately fell asleep. I was wakened around midnight when my husband lifted the front part of the fly off the tent. "The STARS are out!" he said. And he was right. They sparkled above us. The mist was done, the fly was off, and I could see the sky! I enjoyed them for a few minutes, and then I fell right back to sleep in my cozy little tent, my home away from home, under the wild Quehanna sky.

The song to accompany this image is about something that every girl needs. Or perhaps that every PERSON needs. I need it for my heart. I need it for my soul. Maybe you do too . . . The Dixie Chicks, with Wide Open Spaces.

Stay tuned for more backpacking adventures in the next blip post!