Schaeffer Farms white trail

Even though it is very close by, I have spent virtually no time in the Schaeffer Farms area of Seneca Creek State Park, as it is designed with bikes in mind. (Albeit open to hikers.) So I set out to do a straightforward loop on the white trail - it's one of those areas with trails simply named for the blaze color.

It wasn't a long hike. I did add on a bit of mileage by detouring down the Seneca Ridge Trail to Black Rock, which added elevation gain on the return. 

The entire area is "just woods," as in, no real viewpoints, streams, etc. It does pass some farmland, and there are modest elevation gain changes. Overall, it is a trail that is convenient and a change of pace, but not a real destination in and of itself.

Long Draught Trail

A cold knocked me out for a week and a half, so my return to hiking was a mild effort: Picking up a stray bit of the Long Draught trail in Seneca Creek State Park. This bit of the trail, east of Riffle Ford Ford, connects the Greenway and the Seneca Ridge Trail.

It was not a long section, but it was pleasant enough.

Seneca Creek Greenway and Ridge Trails

For my first long hike of the year - yes, it took until March! - I headed out to the Seneca Greenway to do a loop. Starting at the Black Rock parking lot, I headed north, which in that section is west, to Riffle Ford Road. From there I did a very short road walk to the Seneca Ridge trail, returning to my car.

The first bit of the greenway is a very nice section, well shaded and partially along the creek. After crossing Germantown Road, it is much more open. While it still follows the creek, and was fine in the 60-something weather, it can get hot in the summer. 

The return was my first time on the Seneca Ridge trail; unlike the parallel greenway, it is open to bicycles. This section is nicely maintained and reasonably pretty. It's not as close to the creek, but there are a few nice views of it from above. (Hence the name Senece Ridge, I suppose.)

The loop added up to 11.5 miles. The elevation was 71 feet per mile, pretty standard for this area.

Ranger-led hike at Seneca Creek

Each month, Seneca Creek offers a ranger-led hike of about four miles. I joined March's hike for the first time. It was a relaxed pace.

Plus, there is a "frequent hiker" punchcard that leads to a sticker!

Wampum section of the North Country Trail

We saw that the Wampum Chapter of the North Country Trail was doing a St. Paddy's day hike and giving out the first of four patches celebrating trail towns. So we hauled up to the Pittsburgh area for a short (under four mile) hike. And then we drove back.

That much driving was terrible, but the hike was nice. It featured a brand-new section of trail that moved the trail off of a busy road. (There was still a tiny bit of roadwalk, but on a very slow road - very little danger.) The trail goes over an underground storage facility and passes a very nicely maintained shelter.

It was also somehow a Sasquatch hike, as a cutout of a sasquatch on the hill demonstrated.