You guys are so lucky to have such nice trails.  We have nothing comparable in Ohio.  I've hiked the Laurel Highlands Trail and just did a pretty big piece of the Gerard Trail.  You're getting my tourism dollars.

Oil Creek.



Old school bus visible from the trail.  Someone lived in it once upon a time.  It had the remnants of a bed and chair inside.  Reminded me, of course, of Into the Wild.



The creek from 1400 feet.



Sap-cicles.  They were sticky, like fly-paper, not smooth like an icicle.  I'd never seen one before.





The creek from 1600 feet.











MSR sent the wrong-sized rainfly.  Made for a cold night.



One of my favorite views in the world.



Second night sleeping location.  Much nicer than the first!  I love those shelters.  In Ohio we have trails but no designated camping areas let alone shelters like these.



Shelter fireplace.



Setting sun means the cold is coming!



It got down to 17 at night with a high of about 30 during the day so the water in our canteens froze solid.  Had to melt snow to drink the first night.  Pulled water from a stream the next day.



My buddy brought crampons.  Very smart.  I fell several times.



Me.



There are lot of relics of the oil-boom days along the trail. Here's some rusty wheelie-things....



Crossing the creek again on the way back to the car.





Altogether about 16 miles hiked with elevation changes of about 400 feet (1200 at creek level, 1600 up on the ridge).  High temp was 30 degrees, low was 17.  On the way home we stopped in Franklin and had burgers and a few beers at Lona's - it was excellent.  The Steelers aside, I love PA.

Great Pics!!!

Thanks for sharing!

PA is great, you are crazy for camping in the cold. Pics are nice.

Nice write up...

Shelters yep PA does invest back into the state and i have no issue paying for permits etc because i know where the money is going.

Unlike NYS they rape you do zero for up keep.

There are shelters like that about 5 miles from my house. If you are packing with more than one person a neat little winter trick if you have the room, each of you carry a 16'x12' tarp and some cord. the chimney is thick enough that you can string the tarps on both sides and around the back of the shelter. It cuts down on the wind amazingly, and helps hold some of the heat in better. Just my two cents. Pics look amazing, I know I see it every day, but I still love seeing it.

Valid tip.  We strung my GI poncho liner up and covered one of the gaps.  It helped keep the wind out.

absolutely awesome

Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, I actually thought about the ARF-guy that made a thread saying he was going camping in Oil Creek this weekend while I was watching the snow blowing and piling up from my back room by the fire.

Looks like you had a good trip though.  I grew up in that area, lots of great ways to get out and enjoy nature.