The Woodsman's Journal Online: Other

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Sunday, October 11, 2026

Day Hiking the North Country Trail©

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

P.S.—Sorry for the lack of original pictures from this hike. There was a phone camera malfunction, and none were saved.

Maybe you want to go fall leaf-peeping, maybe you just want to go for a great hike and get away from it all. But maybe you don’t want to do primitive overnight camping, or you only have time for a day hike. If so, I have just the place for you! The Cherry Grove Quadrangle section of the North Country Trail!

You can stay at the Minster Creek campsite, or you could rent a room in a hotel in Warren, PA, but either way, it’s a wonderful day hike. A travel map and a topographic map of the Cherry Grove, PA Quadrangle are available in the sources or HERE and HERE

To get there, first get to Warren Pennsylvania. And from there navigate south to Clarendon, PA. Just south of Clarendon turn right onto Cherry Grove Rd, which will take you mostly south. Turn right (west) when you get to the intersection of Cherry Grove Rd, and 2002 (also known as Austin Hill Road if you go east and Hearts Content Rd if you turn west). Turn left from 2002, when you get to Mayburg Rd/FR116. Stay straight at the fork to continue on Mayburg Rd. After about half a mile, you will see a parking lot and the trail head for a portion of the North Country Trail, on your right. You’re there! Park. Hike. Enjoy.

We went both east and west from the parking lot. We hiked west to the junction of FR419, an hour’s walk in both directions, almost three and a quarter mile (just over 5 km), returning to the trailhead, before hiking east to the Queen Creek lean-to, an hour and a half, or so, away, about four and a quarter miles round trip (almost 7 km). The entire hike was just over seven and a half miles (just over 12 km)

Remember this isn’t front county, even though it is only a short drive from an urban area, this is a primitive, and in some areas, an old-growth forest.

So always let so one know where you are going, and when you’re planning to get back. And bring your Ten Essentials! Never leave home without them.

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Forest Service, USDA; “Visitor Maps and Guides: Allegheny National Forest Recreation Map”, https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/nfs/files/r09/allegheny/publication/Allegheny%20National%20Forest%20Recreation%20Map%202016.pdf, accessed October 10, 2026

National Park Service; “Ten Essentials”, https://www.nps.gov/articles/10essentials.htm, accessed October 10, 2026

USGS Store; “Cherry Grove, PA Quadrangle”, https://store.usgs.gov/product/824333, accessed October 10, 2026

Sunday, October 4, 2026

The North Country Trail©

Have you ever hiked the North Country Trail? Have you even heard of it? It’s Fall and the leaves are starting to change

Everyone has heard of the Appalachian Trail, with its 2,198 miles (approximately 3,538 kilometers) of trail, which crosses through 14 American states, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine, it’s an all-star. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, not as many people have heard of the North Country Trail.

The North Country National Scenic Trail (NCNST), known more widely as the North Country Trail, was one of the proposed trails, created when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Trails System Act, on October 2, 1968. Congress approved the proposed trail in 1980, and when fully completed the North Country Trail is expected to reach 4,600 miles (approximately 7,400 km), from Crown Point, New York, on the southwest shore of Lake Champlain, to Lake Sakakawea State Park in North Dakota.

In 2023, about 1,800 miles of the total trail had been finished, including more than two thirds of the 195 mile (314 km) Pennsylvania section, which winds through the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania. It enters Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest in the north from New York’s Allegheny State Park, near Willow Bay Recreation Area, on the eastern shore of Allegheny Reservoir, and exits in the southwest, near Negley, Ohio.

Of the trails in the Allegheny National Forest, the 96 miles (155 km) section of the North Country Trail in Pennsylvania, snaking south through the Allegheny National Forest, is the longest trail in the national forest. This trail, which is marked with blue blazes, winds through old-growth forests in the Tionesta Natural and Scenic Areas, before bending westward through Cherry Run and Henrys Mills. Later the trail briefly joins the northern end of the Minister Creek Trail, before traveling westward to Dunham Siding near Heart’s Content Scenic Area, then turning south again through Kellettville. The North Country trail leaves the Allegheny National force when it joins the Baker Trail at the national forest boundary south of Muzette.

For the backpacker, seven national forest campgrounds are located on or near the trail. Also, primitive camping is permitted nearly anywhere within the national forest, except at a few designated areas.

A good rule of thumb is that most federal public lands , such as Allegheny National Forest, is open to camping. Primitive campers (backpackers) are permitted to camp in most areas of the forest without a permit if staying no more than one night in any location, and may camp overnight anywhere except:

· In designated Natural Areas

· Within 200 feet of a forest road

· Within 25 feet of a trail

· Within 100 feet of a stream or any open water

In State lands and Game lands, they often do not allow camping. There are exceptions to these rules, so make sure to do your research ahead of time.

· There are black bears in the area, so it’s important to store your food overnight hoisted in a tree, do not cook or eat in your sleeping area, and make sure that you are not antagonizing the bears.

· There is plenty of water running through this area that looks clean and clear. This water can be consumed, but it must be treated first by water purification or filtration.

· Leave a printed copy of the map at home so someone knows where you are going and your expected time of return.

· Develop a plan to check in before/after the hike where cell phone reception permits.

So, if you want to see beautiful fall leaves, consider trekking the North Country Trail through The Allegheny National Forest.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read about some cool sections of the North Country Trail that you can hike in a day.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

Sources

National Park Service; “North Country, National Scenic Trail”,

https://npshistory.com/publications/noco/map.pdf, accessed October 3, 2026

Sunday, September 27, 2026

I’m Going on an Adventure; I’m Going on a Trip©

Your regularly scheduled Blogcast has been preempted for a Weekend trip. It will return at its regularly scheduled time next week, with all new content!

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Could You be a Hero...Acting in an Emergency©

I was recently reading some old online magazines, when I came across, Harry Kursh’s article “Could You Be A Hero?”, in a 1957 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, and it got me to thinking about how people act in emergencies. I’ve always heard, and taught the rule of thumb, that 33% of the people in an emergency freeze up and can’t act, 33% don’t know what to do, but if told what to do can act, and 33% can act independently.

Studies tend to back this up, although the percentages are different than in my rule of thumb. For example, a poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that “While three-quarters (76%) of adults in the United States feel prepared to communicate with 911 operators in an emergency, only slightly more than half (55%) feel prepared to provide hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Slightly less than half (46%) of respondents feel prepared to apply a tourniquet to control severe bleeding, or move a victim to safety (47%), and fewer than a third (29%) feel prepared to use an automatic external defibrillator (AED)”.

Responding in an emergency isn’t about being without fear. The truly brave person is afraid but acts anyways. It isn’t about a lack of fear, it is about controlling that fear and not letting it control you.

And it is a known fact that the more training you’ve had, the more likely you will react correctly during an emergency. For example, in a medical emergency, more than 80% of those with first aid training will respond to a medical emergency.

Have you ever been in an emergency? Do you know where you fall on this rule of thumb? Do you need more training? Do you need to become more acclimatized to stressful situations? Would you jump in and act in an emergency? You’ll never really know until you are tested, but this is an interesting survey that might give you a hint. Let’s find out.

Complete the survey created by Harry Kursch, see below, and find your hero score. The scoring is at the end of this article, above the sources.

So how did you do? So how did you do? Remember acting in an emergency is about pushing through fear and acting even when you are scared. It’s also about having the training and the knowledge to act in the situation and act correctly. So learn to conquer your fears and get training, especially in self-defense (make sure it includes live sparring) and first aid.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP); “Nearly Half of U.S. Adults are Unprepared to Help in a Medical Emergency, January 18, 2023, https://www.emergencyphysicians.org/press-releases/2023/1-18-23-nearly-half-of-u.s.-adults-are-unprepared-to-help-in-a-medical-emergency, accessed August 1, 2026

Kursh, Harry; “Could You Be A Hero?”, Mechanix Illustrated, August 1957, Vol. 53, No. 8, [Fawcett Publications, Inc.; Greenwich CN], https://archive.org/details/mechanix-illustrated-195708/page/n3/mode/2up, accessed August 1, 2026

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Happy 250th Birthday America!©

There is no article this week, because I am busy celebrating America’s 250^th birthday! I’m going to visit Old Fort Niagara to commemorate the 267^th anniversary celebration of the Siege of Fort Niagara before marching in a Fourth of July Parade this evening.

Be safe with your fireworks, no unnecessary trips to the emergency room.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read more in our Summer of 1776 series.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Daniel Ogden jr. was born on August 21,1735 in Greenwich, Connecticut, He died on November 30, 1819, in Clearfield, Pennsylvania and was buried in the Old Clearfield Cemetery. He married Eleanor or Helena Schouten, Scoutan or Schoutien (her actual name is a mystery as spelling was frequently phonetic during the 18^th century; however family tradition holds that her first name was Eleanor) on August 9, 1756 in Brinckerhoff, New York.

He was my 6^th great grandfather on my mother’s side. He died 207 years ago, and his 84 years of life neatly framed the turbulent years surrounding the birth of the United States of America. All and all, I would have loved to have met him and listened to stories of his life, but that is impossible. Luckily much more is known about him than many of his age, but unfortunately for modern historians, even more has been lost in the mists of time. So let’s talk about what we do know and infer what we can.

Damiel Ogden had been described by those who knew him, in as “a strong, muscular man, a great hunter, and quite fond of joking…”, as Lewis Cass Aldrich recorded in History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 1887. Author S.B. Row wrote in Clearfield County: Or, Reminisces of the Past, 1859, that “He was naturally of a jolly, rollicking disposition [and] liked to joke. He could build log cabins, make looms, spinning wheels, cut out pants, coats, vests, repair guns, pull teeth and doctoring ... He made millstones for his mill ... and had enough mechanical genius to take care of himself anywhere”. Additionally, S.B. Row described Daniel as “...impulsive, yet firm and resolute” and “courageous [and] sought rather than avoided dangers”. The historian Francis Halsey who wrote in The Old New York Frontier, 1902, that Daniel “...had become famous as a hunter of beaver and a scout...”. In 1759, his 17 year old brother Ichabod, when enlisting in Captain Joshua Bloomer’s Westchester County, New York Company, was described as “5’ 7”, light ey’d, light brown hair, dark complexion” - it is likely that Daniel Ogden would have looked similar.

The Early Years

As a youth of Daniel would have lived through and heard tales of the ‘Old French War’ of 1744 to 1748 (thus called in the Americas to distinguish it from the French and Indian war of 1756 to 1763. The Old French war is also known as King George's War and was the North American theater during the War of the Austrian Succession, an early world war pitting many of the great European powers against each other in Europe and throughout their colonial holdings. In North America, the most notable action was the New England militias surprise capture of the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island. While the Fortress of Louisbourg was never the direct launching point for inland raids into the American colonies by Native Americans, its French governors and missionaries, such as Jean-Louis Le Loutre led French soldiers, Acadian militias, and actively armed and directed the Wabanaki Confederacy (Mi'kmaq and Abenaki tribes) to attack upstate New York and the New England frontier, particularly in Maine, New Hampshire.

The war was concluded with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and infuriated the British colonists in the New England colonies, by returning Louisbourg to the French in exchange for territories in India. This allowed Le Loutre, the Acadian militia and forces of the Wabanaki Confederacy to continue their attacks on the British Colonial frontiers of Maine, New Hampshire, and areas of New York along the Hudson river and north of the Mohawk River. These raids and counter-raids became known ‘Father Le Loutre’s War’, it was also known as the ‘Indian War’, the ‘Mi’kmaq War” and the ‘Anglo-Mi’kmaq War’ and filled the years between King George's War and the French and Indian War, from 1749 to1755.

Throughout this time, there is no record of Daniel’s whereabouts and activities. The historical record is silent, as would be expected of someone who had not yet reached the full age of adulthood in British society of the 1700s.

During the 1700, under British common law, full majority, ‘complete full age’, was reached at the age of twenty-one, and under Civil law the age was twenty-five in matters of contract law. Anyone under these ages was legally an ‘infant’. At eighteen a will could be made for goods and chattels, but not until twenty-one could a will include land. The average age for a first marriage was mid-twenties, according to Matthew Hale’s Historia Placitorum Coronæ (1736), for marriage ‘the full age of consent in males was fourteen years, and of females twelve’.

We will continue the chronicle of the Life and Times of Daniel Ogden, later in our Summer of 1776 series.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Lost in Late 18th and Early 19th centuries...Lessons Learned©”, where we will talk about surviving being lost in the Old Northwest Frontier.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Aldrich, Lewis Cass; History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, [D. Mason & Co., Syracuse NY, 1887], https://archive.org/details/historyofclearfi00aldr/page/n5/mode/2up, accessed June 20, 2026

Baird, Robert W.; “Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet, Legal Age”, [© by Robert W. Baird (various dates, 2010-2030)], https://genfiles.com/articles/legal-age/, accessed June 20, 2026

Crosbie, Barbara; “Adulthood in Britain and the United States from 1350 to Generation Z”, [© the Authors], https://read.uolpress.co.uk/read/adulthood-in-britain-and-the-united-states-from-1350-to-generation-z/section/db525031-1b10-4ec0-8f59-dc57d2b93d28#chapter4-11, accessed June 20, 2026

Halsey, Francis; The Old New York Frontier. [Charles Scibner’s Sons, New York , NY, 1902], https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_old_New_York_frontier_1614_1800/GAhO7XwjJPcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Francis+Halsey+new+york+frontier+ogden&pg=PA273&printsec=frontcover, accessed June 20, 2026

Harpster, Jack; and Stalter, Ken; Captive! The Story of David Ogden and the Iroquois, [Praeger, Santa Barbara, CA, 2010]

Row, S.B.; Clearfield County: Or, Reminisces of the Past, [C.G. Holloway and S.J. Stephenson, 2000]

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

The Woodsman's Journal Online

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Sunday, October 11, 2026

Day Hiking the North Country Trail©

Sunday, October 4, 2026

The North Country Trail©

Sunday, September 27, 2026

I’m Going on an Adventure; I’m Going on a Trip©

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Could You be a Hero...Acting in an Emergency©

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Happy 250th Birthday America!©

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Life and Times of Daniel Ogden 1735 to 1819: The Early Years©

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