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| View to Mount Nittany Ridge from Grosses Gap Trail |
Knowing that we would be spending the rest of the day (and the day after that) in the kitchen, my brother and I decided to head out with his two boys for a Christmas Eve hike of Buffalo Mountain. As luck would have it, we timed it perfectly to enjoy about an inch of newly-fallen snow - just enough to make for a picturesque hiking day; but not enough to cause too much of a hazard on the unpaved roads leading to the trailhead.
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| The crew ascending Grosses Gap Trail |
Our plan was a simple loop hike up Buffalo Mountain via Grosses Gap with a return via Bear Gap, where my nephews liked to take advantage of an established camp site to take a long break with a fire and hot chocolate. We hit the trail around 9 a.m. and judging by the absence of tire tracks on the snow-covered access road were the first people to enter Bald Eagle State Forest on Christmas Eve morning. Grosses Gap Trail took us steeply up to the summit ridge of Buffalo Mountain, at which point we headed west for a gentle meander on the Spring Mountain trail - an old fire road. Near the intersection with Bear Gap trail, we found fresh boot prints in the snow and assumed that they were from someone who was doing and out-and-back via Bear Gap Trail. But as it turned out the prints led off into the woods. Probably someone doing a bushwhack... but a little eerie, nonetheless.
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| Spring Mountain Trail on Buffalo Mountain Ridge |
Bear Gap Trail made for a very pretty descent of the mountain and we set up at the aforementioned campsite to enjoy a camp stove fire just as the sun started to peak through the trees. After a long break, we continued down the trail and completed the loop with a short road walk along Spruce Run back to the trailhead.
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| View from Bear Gap Campsite |
As it turned out, we really needed a calorie-burning peak hike on Christmas Eve. Our geographic locale of choice for this year's Italy-themed holiday feast was Parma, Italy.
Light fare it ain't.
Destination: Buffalo Mountain
Elevation: 1,900 feet (Gain: 950 feet)
Distance: 6 miles roundtrip
Route: Loop, Grosses Gap Trail to Spring Mountain Trail to Bear Gap Trail
Conditions: Snow to partly sunny, 30 degrees F
