Off pavement travel/dispersed camping in Pennsylvania. Or anywhere

[LoNeStAr]

Sounds like you had a great time. No pics?

 

[devildodge]

We started our trip in Rothrock State Forest.
Seeing the Stars and Stripes at the start of this remind me that THIS is the country I am proud of and would defend.

Of course...an obligatory vista pic. And I realize I need to get a real camera. Loses so much of the beauty.

 

[devildodge]

We explored in Rothrock for awhile. I got to hit one of the 4x4 high clearance trails. You definitely need high clearance, but on this day no 4x4 was needed. Glad I hit the trail. The regular forest roads were fairly busy...but this stretch not a soul.

We did verify that the sites were occupied.

But, this is where the trip got rerouted. So, I had been reading all you guys talking about air pressure in your tires. Since I am usually near capacity I just run the called fir 60 front 80 rear.

But this week I went with 60 and 60. Well...that put my TPMS light on. So I would check it every once in awhile.i noticed when we hit the forest my right rear was at 69 from the heat...but my left was at 60...didnt think much about it and headed onward.

Almost to the switch from Rothrock to Bald Eagle...53.

Decided I should head to a Sheetz and get air.

Was at 44. Pumped it up and told the kids we had to head right to camp. No side trails

 

[devildodge]

We make it to camp. 37 pounds still in the tire. I was losing about a pound every 3 miles.

We set up camp after taking a short bike ride and a quick hike.

The kids were great. They helped with every aspect. Was very glad to have the daughter join us, because this was the first time with this tent...mom said it wad big...it was huge. 14 person. But, the cool thing is...the one side turns into a screen room. So when the rain came...we were able to sit in there and enjoy the sounds of nature.

 

[devildodge]

We had no Cell service...that was great news for unplugging the kids...but we needed to let mom know we were safe.

So, I showed the kids how to change a tire in the wilderness.
We then went for a drive to fund cellphone service. On the way we saw a bear. It crossed the road about 75 yards in front of us. But when we got to were it had crossed...we couldn't find it. We saw a mother doe with twin fawns. We watched them for a bit.

So 5 miles later...cellphone service. Txtd mom and told her we were safe.

The daughter then says...know what we forgot. Graham crackers for s'mores. So we took another detour to a small mom and pop store and got Graham crackers and some juice and milk.

Drove back to camp and made a fire for the S'mores and Mountain

 

[devildodge]

Woke up watched the light come to the forest and see the blue sky return. The tent kept us dry and the rain had brought a cool breeze to make sleeping very pleasant.

We went for a bike ride to the nearby creek and watched the fish for awhile.

Took a small hike and returned to tear down camp.

 

[devildodge]

We didn't snap many pictures. Got one more vista pic.
We drove out past the 2 state parks. Poe Valley and Poe Paddy.

We saw 3 groups of people while at camp. A dad and his 2 kids hiked by. 6 MT. Bikers rode by and a group of 3 jeeps.

We got down by the state park...way to many people. So glad we did the dispersed sites.

We drove out of the forest, and headed home. I wanted to take the forest back...but not having a spare...we just took the back roads.

We had a great time. Ready to go again.

 

[coolhandluchs]

Thanks for the pictures! I grew up about 20 minutes north of State College (our farm was about 10 minutes from Black Moshannon SP), and remember mountain biking in Rothrock a bit during college. Moved to Colorado in '98, but Central PA will always be home. I miss all that green. And Yuengling, and grilled stickies...

 

[CaptainCJ35]

Great series post Devildodge!

 

[MG99]

I’m back from camping too. Cut it sj

Awesome @MG99

Be sure to check back in with how the experience went.

I’m back too. Went to the Catskills and had a great time despite cutting it a night short. My young sons (6 and 4) voted against two nights out there. Its only our second time camping ever, so I was fine with leaving early and keeping them comfortable and with an enjoyable experience. As it turns out pretty severe storms were heading up that way so it actually turned out to be the right decision. In fact a few hours after we got home we lost power from the heavy winds knocking down trees etc.

There was no cell service where we were either and it was great to “unplug” for a while. My kids did really great and I’m proud of them for behaving so well and trying new things. They had a lot of fun hiking in the woods. I also got to test out some new camping gear and I have to say the coleman two burner propane stove was great. Fast and convenient. Unfortunately, I was unable to do any off roading. That was my plan for day three. I wanted to test the Duratracs and the truck on some trails or logging roads. Next time I guess.

I was actually near Northeast Offroad Adventures which is an offroad driving school that looks pretty cool (nyoffroaddriving.com)
I want to take a couple of their courses on recovery and overlanding. Anyway, hope to camp again a couple more times before summer ends. Here’s a few pics from my old IPhone.

 

[devildodge]

Awesome. Keep us posted with anymore trips. I feel very refreshed after my weekend. Looks like you had a great one too.

 

[MG99]

Awesome. Keep us posted with anymore trips. I feel very refreshed after my weekend. Looks like you had a great one too.

 

[MG99]

Did a quick afternoon trip to a local county park/preserve for a short hike a with my lil dudes. 40 minute drive.

I forgot to mention last post I averaged 18-19 mpg during my camping trip to the Catskills. Pretty darn good with 33” duratracs.

 

[devildodge]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. My truck is still down for wheel bearing and tires. Hope to fix that this week and hit the dispersed camping again

 

[MG99]

Aww bummer. Getting all new tires or just replacing the one?

 

[devildodge]

Getting all new. Thinking about Cooper Evolution MT in a 295/70r18.

 

[MG99]

Getting all new. Thinking about Cooper Evolution MT in a 295/70r18.

Those will be nice. Almost 35” why mud terrain specifically and not A/T’s

 

[devildodge]

Because I am tired of the mud here....so if I get mud terrains...no more mud

 

[LoNeStAr]

Add gravel

 

[MG99]

Because I am tired of the mud here....so if I get mud terrains...no more mudView attachment 65016View attachment 65017View attachment 65019

Well then that makes perfect sense!