In This Issue: Looking Down on the Village of Ramsey from the Mid State Trail Hiking Tip - Staying Warm While You Sleep Musser Gap Soon to be Part of the Rothrock State Forest PA Hikes Calendar - Get Them While You Still Can Announcements - Hiking Organizations & Outing Clubs Deal of the Month Looking Down on the Village of Ramsey from the Mid State Trail Just as the Mid State Trail crosses Pine Creek on a Rails to Trails bridge, it enters the small village of Ramsey. This is where I started my most recent hike of the Mid State Trail, on a balmy mid-December day, climbing to the top of Houselander Mountain. The hike was only a little over 5 miles in length, but it included a steep ascent of over 1000 feet from the banks of Pine Creek to the top of the gorge .On the hike I was treated to some small waterfalls, many beautiful vistas, as well as strolling along picturesque mountain streams, including Ramsey Run. [LINK TO TRIP REPORT AND PHOTOS] Hiking Tip - Staying Warm While You Sleep If you do any overnight hikes during the winter months, or even in the spring when it can still get quite cold at night, nothing can make an overnight backpacking trip less enjoyable than having the wrong sleeping bag. Most sleeping bags sold today come with a temperature raiting. You should only take the rating as a suggestion and not an absolute value. Also, only compare temperature ratings within a manufacturer’s line: a 25 degree rating for one manufacturer may be a 35 degree rating for another. Mummy style sleeping bags are the warmest style sleeping bags available because they have less air inside to heat. You can also pull the hood over your head to help warm the interior of the bag and retain your body heat. Most of your heat loss is through your head, and if you don't like the idea of using the hood of your sleeping bag, then you at least wear a hat to sleep to help retain your body heat. And finally, don’t forget about your sleeping pad. The warmest sleeping bag will do you no good if you don’t have an insulating barrier between you and the cold ground. During the coldest months consider using two open celled sleeping pads stacked on top of each other to get double the insulation. Musser Gap Soon to be Part of the Rothrock State Forest On August 8, 2006 ClearWater Conservancy purchased the 423-acre Musser Gap for natural resource conservation. The Conservancy bought the land from a private landowner who had planned to develop the property. In early 2007, Musser Gap will be incorporated into Rothrock State Forest, providing public access to its impressive network of trails. The acquisition of Musser Gap will create a valuable recreational resource for the residents and visitors of the Centre Region that emulates Galbraith and Shingletown Gaps. A Musser Gap Forest Gateway will provide new access to the existing trail systems in Shingletown Gap and Rothrock State Forest (e.g., Mid-State Trail, Musser Gap Trail, etc.) and alleviate the current over-use of the Shingletown Gap trail system. [LEARN MORE AT CLEARWATER CONSERVANCY'S WEBSITE] PA Hikes Calendar - Get Them While You Still Can We still have a limited number of PA Hikes 2007 Calendars available. These calendars highlights various sections of the trails in central Pennsylvania and around the state. Each month depicts a hike on some of the various trails found in the Keystone State. All photos were taken during a hike on that month. View scenes from the Mid State Trail, Allegheny Front Trail, Old Logger's Path, and many others. Stock is limited and once they're gone, they're gone. And don't forget, for every calendar purchased, a donation of $5.00 will be given to the Keystone Trail Association. Enjoy the beautiful scenery that the trails of Pennsylvania have to offer and give a little something back in return. [GET YOUR CALENDAR AT THE HIKING SPOT] Announcements - Hiking Organizations & Outing Clubs Mid State Trail Association - Winter Meeting on Saturday, January 27, 2007 at Bald Eagle Forest Headquarters in Laurelton on PA 45. 12 noon potluck and 1PM meeting. Do you or your hiking organization or outing club have information that you'd like to share? Planning a trip, fund raiser, or future trail maintenance? Then let the "Go Take A Hike" e-Newsletter help. Submit your announcements to webmaster@pahikes.com. We will post all announecments here each month for everyone to see. [SUBMIT YOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS TO THE WEBMASTER] Deal of the Month Komperdell Contour Titanal Airshock trekking poles help protect your joints! The ultra light Komerdell absorbing system is based on the principle of a 4-level barometer. Airshock represents an extremely soft, progressive suspension system. This system can be individually fitted to every user. With Komperdell's Airshock on/Off system it is simple to activate or deactivate the suspension. Lock the mechanism while hiking uphill. This prevents the transfer of energy into compressing the Airshock system and gives you more power to climb. Activate the mechanism while hiking downhill. This will lessen the impact on your wrists, and arms, as well as help remove the stress of the descent from your knees and legs. With a suggested retail price of $159.00, these top-of-the-line trekking poles by Komperdell are on sale throughout the month of January for $117.99. As a subscriber to this e-Newsletter, you can Save an additional $10 off the already low price. Use Coupon Code GTAH02 during checkout to take advantage of this Deal of the Month. Only one coupon/coupon code per order. Some coupons can only be used once. Other restrictions may apply. This exclusive Deal of the Month offer is only valid for "Go Take A Hike" e-Newsletter subscribers. [KOMPERDELL CONTOUR TITANAL AIRSHOCK TREKKING POLES AT THE HIKING SPOT] www.pahikes.com www.thehikingspot.com www.keystonehiker.com The Hiking Spot 290 South Main St. Pleasant Gap, PA 16823 (814) 359-4389 webmaster@pahikes.com Click on the link below to unsubscribe