VMO: Black Forest Madness (43 miles)

Hike the Black Forest Trail in the sweltering heat of August?? Madness! I can sense U-Turn shifting uneasily in his chair somewhere at the mere idea. But hear me out. If you're preparing for the Collegiate Loop trip, or any other challenging future exploits, its 8,700 feet of total elevation gain/loss over 43ish miles and two days and an evening could be a good warmup. Also, I have some ideas on how to make this fun. I'm doing a slightly different configuration of splits from that of past DCUL trips. Splits are 4.6/20.5/17.6.

Caltopo: https://caltopo.com/m/LB4003U
Purple Lizard map: https://www.purplelizard.com/collections/maps/products/pine-creek-pennsylvania-grand-canyon-map

I'd like to leave the Grosvenor-Strathmore metro at 3 pm on Friday, as it is at least 4.5-hour drive (including quick Sheetz dinner stop) to the Black Forest Trail parking at Trout Run Rd (https://maps.app.goo.gl/GwvYQvSrMqDPKv7p9), and there will be some night hiking. However, there can be a later car if some can't leave that early but feel confident navigating in the dark. Once arriving at the trailhead, we'll hike about 4.6 miles and camp at the intersection of the Old Cutoff Trail, the trail coming up the ravine from Callahan Run, and where the trail turns right to go up to Hemlock Mountain. (If some arriving later don't want to hike 4.6 miles in the dark, they could camp at the site half a mile from the parking lot and add those miles to Saturday's hike.)

I plan to start very early Saturday morning to beat the heat, but also to leave time for fun later (but others can start when they like). About 14.5 miles into Saturday, we pass through the hamlet of Slate Run and right past Hotel Manor. This hotel (okay, more of a rural inn), has a full restaurant and a great beer selection. Furthermore, it has a large deck and grassy area with picnic tables and Adirondack chairs overlooking Pine Creek. A perfect place to relax with a meal and a cold drink, and maybe even some creek wading! From there it's 6 more miles and a pretty steep climb to a beautiful (but dry) cliffside campsite. Water (and backup campsites) are just a half mile or so past there and into Sunday morning's hike. Sunday is another 17.6 miles, plus the long drive back, so we'll need another early start. We'll get lunch on the drive back.

This trail is a bit demanding, especially in August! Lots of steep climbs and descents. But it has its rewards in terms of views and beers! It's traditionally a VMO, and I'm going to stick to that despite shortening Saturday to 20 miles, because of the total mileage and elevation. If there's a heat wave, I will cancel for safety, but if it's normal August temps, I'll still go.