salmonoid
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2007
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In years past, we alternated the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays between my wife and my respective families. As our own family grew, we decided it was important that we make our own Christmas memories as a family and we opted to be at home Christmas Day. But in mid-fall, I got the idea that spending part of Christmas/New Years break might be fun to do. Initially I was leaning towards New Years but by a stroke of reservation luck, the cabin I had in mind was available for a few days that included Christmas.
With the benefit of a school (and work!) early dismissal, we pointed the vehicle north on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Sullivan County a little after 5. I had stopped off at the Forksville General Store for a cheesesteak earlier in the year, in April, and we were fortunate to grab dinner there before it closed for the evening. Chatted it up with Big Mike at the counter a bit, and bemoaned the misfortunes of the Eagles (he's a Philly transplant). And then it was off to the cabin in Worlds End State Park. I had stayed in this cabin a few years ago in the winter and really liked it - one large room with the cooking stove, dining table and wood stove, and two rooms with double bunk beds made up our accommodations for the next few days. Being a rustic cabin, there was no running water (save the Loyalsock Creek in front of us and the rain falling off the roof). And there was no heat, save the wood stove. The temperature inside the cabin was a good deal colder than the outside air when we arrived.
I started a fire in the woodstove, while the wife and kids unpacked the car. The bedrooms remained chilly throughout the first 12 hours, but the main room quickly rose to 50 degrees and by the time we went to bed, was as warm as we keep our home. Hats and long underwear and sleeper pajamas kept the kids warm and I had the joy of tending the fire each night.
Christmas Eve, we played games, while the rain fell outside. I was a bit disappointed that the storm produced only rain; I was hoping for some snow on the ground for Christmas day but the only snow there was a few plow pile remnants from an earlier snowfall. We finally got moving by the middle of the afternoon and caught a nice window of no rain and got out to do some hiking. When I was there a few years ago, the temperature was about 30 degrees colder (high of 24 if I recall) and the stream in the park was mostly frozen. It made for some beautiful scenery then, but I took the skunk that day, although I did move a few little brookies.
With that skunking in mind, I had thrown in a rod for this trip that my boss gave me earlier in the year - an Eagle Claw Packit Fly/Spin rod. Before leaving for the trip, I promised the family that I would not fish alone but I did manage to take the rod along for our hike along Double Run. The rain had the stream running fairly high.
As we hiked along the trail, we came up to a somewhat disheveled looking bridge, that had seen a few too many washouts. I motioned for the family to stop and everyone was thrilled when a pretty little brookie came to hand.
We continued hiking upstream, to Cottonwood Falls and I added a second little brookie to the day's tally, before succumbing to the glares of my spouse and wisely kept the hook on the hook keeper for the rest of the dwindling afternoon.
Hiking back to the car, I saw what looked like bright car tail lights down by route 154, that turned out to be flares. With dwindling daylight and fog, I thought maybe a vehicle had crashed, but I could make out what appeared to be some PennDOT vehicles parked up the road. A car came through, so I figured the road wasn't completely blocked and since we were going to try to make it to Canyon Vista before dark, I drove through. Turns out a small rock fall had closed one lane of the road, but it was large enough for five PennDOT trucks (and accompanying workers) to be onsite Christmas Eve.
We drove to the vista and took the view as darkness began to press in. You can actually see a flare at the junction of route 154 and Worlds End Road, just to the left of the middle of the picture.
We tramped around the Rock Garden above the vista, in the growing twilight, much to the chagrin of the kids and then drove back to the cabin. After dinner, we enjoyed playing more games together before retiring for the evening in a much toastier setting than the night before.
We left the presents at home, but did take along stockings. Christmas morning, we opened the contents of the stockings. In addition to the common trinkets they contained, my wife had fitted them with heart cookies, peppermint sticks and a new penny, with a nod to the Little House Christmas experience that Laura Ingalls had one hard winter. Aurora, the stuffed cat, observed the merriment.
Before long, it was time to pack up and head home for the remainder of Christmas. We probably won't replicate this trip every year, but it was a nice relaxing break in the Endless Mountains.
With the benefit of a school (and work!) early dismissal, we pointed the vehicle north on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Sullivan County a little after 5. I had stopped off at the Forksville General Store for a cheesesteak earlier in the year, in April, and we were fortunate to grab dinner there before it closed for the evening. Chatted it up with Big Mike at the counter a bit, and bemoaned the misfortunes of the Eagles (he's a Philly transplant). And then it was off to the cabin in Worlds End State Park. I had stayed in this cabin a few years ago in the winter and really liked it - one large room with the cooking stove, dining table and wood stove, and two rooms with double bunk beds made up our accommodations for the next few days. Being a rustic cabin, there was no running water (save the Loyalsock Creek in front of us and the rain falling off the roof). And there was no heat, save the wood stove. The temperature inside the cabin was a good deal colder than the outside air when we arrived.
I started a fire in the woodstove, while the wife and kids unpacked the car. The bedrooms remained chilly throughout the first 12 hours, but the main room quickly rose to 50 degrees and by the time we went to bed, was as warm as we keep our home. Hats and long underwear and sleeper pajamas kept the kids warm and I had the joy of tending the fire each night.
Christmas Eve, we played games, while the rain fell outside. I was a bit disappointed that the storm produced only rain; I was hoping for some snow on the ground for Christmas day but the only snow there was a few plow pile remnants from an earlier snowfall. We finally got moving by the middle of the afternoon and caught a nice window of no rain and got out to do some hiking. When I was there a few years ago, the temperature was about 30 degrees colder (high of 24 if I recall) and the stream in the park was mostly frozen. It made for some beautiful scenery then, but I took the skunk that day, although I did move a few little brookies.
With that skunking in mind, I had thrown in a rod for this trip that my boss gave me earlier in the year - an Eagle Claw Packit Fly/Spin rod. Before leaving for the trip, I promised the family that I would not fish alone but I did manage to take the rod along for our hike along Double Run. The rain had the stream running fairly high.
As we hiked along the trail, we came up to a somewhat disheveled looking bridge, that had seen a few too many washouts. I motioned for the family to stop and everyone was thrilled when a pretty little brookie came to hand.
We continued hiking upstream, to Cottonwood Falls and I added a second little brookie to the day's tally, before succumbing to the glares of my spouse and wisely kept the hook on the hook keeper for the rest of the dwindling afternoon.
Hiking back to the car, I saw what looked like bright car tail lights down by route 154, that turned out to be flares. With dwindling daylight and fog, I thought maybe a vehicle had crashed, but I could make out what appeared to be some PennDOT vehicles parked up the road. A car came through, so I figured the road wasn't completely blocked and since we were going to try to make it to Canyon Vista before dark, I drove through. Turns out a small rock fall had closed one lane of the road, but it was large enough for five PennDOT trucks (and accompanying workers) to be onsite Christmas Eve.
We drove to the vista and took the view as darkness began to press in. You can actually see a flare at the junction of route 154 and Worlds End Road, just to the left of the middle of the picture.
We tramped around the Rock Garden above the vista, in the growing twilight, much to the chagrin of the kids and then drove back to the cabin. After dinner, we enjoyed playing more games together before retiring for the evening in a much toastier setting than the night before.
We left the presents at home, but did take along stockings. Christmas morning, we opened the contents of the stockings. In addition to the common trinkets they contained, my wife had fitted them with heart cookies, peppermint sticks and a new penny, with a nod to the Little House Christmas experience that Laura Ingalls had one hard winter. Aurora, the stuffed cat, observed the merriment.
Before long, it was time to pack up and head home for the remainder of Christmas. We probably won't replicate this trip every year, but it was a nice relaxing break in the Endless Mountains.
