Beginner Backpack on the Pinchot Trail (Mountain laurel madness!)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/49239558@N04/sets/72157652664661213

https://endlessmountains.wordpress.com/2015/06/25/beginner-backpacking-trip-on-the-pinchot-trail/

I recently lead a beginner backpacking trip on the south loop of the Pinchot Trail, in the Lackawanna State Forest, PA. It was a great group of people and everyone seemed to have a good time. Few bugs, no ticks. We crossed a meadow with deep pink sheep laurel blooms. The mountain laurel blooms were amazing, and everyone enjoyed Choke Creek Falls. We camped along scenic Choke Creek, saw some beaver dams, and enjoyed more tunnels of mountain laurel and rhododendron. Hummingbirds zipped through the forest, stopping for all the blooming flowers. I rained overnight, so the trail was filled with water the second day as the sun broke through the clouds. I enjoy this trail with its diverse forests, streams, falls, and tunnels of mountain laurel and rhododendron. In places, it felt like a rainforest. A great weekend.

I recently read a book called "The Big Burn" about the 1910 fire out west and the birth of the Forest Service. Pinchot was the first head of the FS while Teddy Roosevelt was president. Later Governor of PA. Check it out:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifford_Pinchot