I was a bit apprehensive and excited about a winter trip this year. The ice has not fully left my bones. But it’s difficult to keep me away.

It’s been three years since I spent multiple nights out in sub-freezing temperatures while hiking a trail section. And last time, it was -10 (F) for two days.

But we ventured out to the Loyalsock Trail’s High Knob section near Hillsgrove, Pa. for two days of vistas and waterfalls. And we took a tent, but I left my better sleeping bag behind under the false assumption the thermometer would not dip much below freezing. I was wrong. My keychain thermometer read 17 degrees the first night. It read 25, the second night. In both cases, it was colder, but we survived.

Loyalsock Trail markers. On the path.

Giant cliffside icicles on day 2.

Mary’s View vista looking southwest to Smith’s Knob.

Trail selfie!

Fire begins to rip.

Appetizer. Fried Spam slices.

Main course. Brats and baked beans.

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight.

I’m glad we did. The waterfalls of the Loyalsock Trail in winter are like fine fountain sculptures at some castle in the French countryside. You could stand there all day, following the lacy patterns of icicles here and there. A rivulet of crystal water catches your eye, slaloming around ice spires and columns, in and out of frosty caves and bubbles, gurgling as it goes, splashing out of a luge channel into a slushy pool.

Frozen falls of Dutter’s Run. We saw only several of them.

Creek water slaloms through the ice falls, around stilagtites, through frosty caves and ice bubbles, then shoots a luge into the slushy pool.

The second falls on Dutter’s Run with its ice pools at the base.

Close-up of the falls’ icicles.

Falls on Cape Run West.

Close-up of the falls in black and white.

The perfect days of warm sunshine made the hike a joy, from the ice sculpture falls on Dutters and Cape runs to the expansive views of 2,010-foot High Knob vista.

We struck out of camp Saturday morning, following the LT northeast. When we came to the climb up High Knob, my mouth dropped and then I chuckled. When the original scouts planned the LT, they looked up, saw the cliffs at the top and said, “Let’s aim for that!” Then they cut five switchbacks with the third and fourth being long and nearly as steep as the knob face. It’s a 250-foot climb in just 0.21 miles.

But when we reached the top and walked the road to the main vista, our jaws dropped.

“Wow. Oh wow,” I heard Josh and Gina say in quick succession. We were greeted with one of the most spectacular views in all of central Pennsylvania. We dropped pack at the picnic area, taking photos, eating lunch, soaking up the warm sun, a dozen mountain knobs visible in the distance.

Several people drove up, took a few photos and left. After three times, Josh, Gina and I chuckled at how little time people spent there. Maybe there’s perspective with climbing to the top by foot. Maybe those folks were in a rush, but if you drove up to a 2,000-foot knob with a view like that on a Saturday, why not stay for a while?

Making our way up the switchback of High Knob.

Gina stretches out the back on a natural ice pack.

Josh and Gina check the marker while taking in the view at the top of High Knob.

Looking south from High Knob. At center right, you can just see Smith’s Knob summit rising over the ridge line. To the left is the LT’s highest plateau, a small hill at 2,140 feet.

Looking southwest from High Knob. Smith’s Knob peaks over the left. At center is the Loyalsock valley with about a dozen knobs visible in the fore and background.

Gina cozies up to the fire in her blanket. It was cold, but relatively comfortable around the fire.

Josh stokes the fire. He almost lost his eyebrows to the fire while i got this shot.

Stargazing.

We sat there for about 45 minutes, our eyes sponging up the view.

The only thing that rivaled the vista were the stars at night. As the sun sank away, Venus twinkled bright just over the horizon. Then one by one, a quadrillion twinkling lights of the Milky Way appeared.

We alternated between staring into the warm flickers of fire and into the distant light show of the universe. To see wonder dancing in your friends’ eyes on a night like that, one sits back, warm in knowing the world is as it should be in that moment.