Upcoming hike: The Raven's Horn, Golden Eagle Trail, Slate Run, PA

I will be on vacation starting the end of next week. While many of my plans are unset at the moment, one has been decided. I will be hiking up to the Raven's Horn the first weekend in August.

The Raven's Horn is a rock outcropping off of the Golden Eagle Trail, near the town of Slate Run in the Pine Creek Gorge. The view is spectacular. I don't like poaching photos from other websites but a search for "Raven's Horn PA" brings up some impressive images. Anyway the hike up to the horn, according to the man I'm meeting to hike with, features about 700 feet of climbing and fewer rocks than most Pennsylvania mountain trails. It will be tough, but I feel I can make it.

As far as gear goes, I'll be wearing my usual fishing shirt, along with a pair of hiking pants I'd picked up at Cabela's a couple of years ago but never worn. The guy I am hiking with offered me a set of his good hiking poles, so I'll use those instead of my cheap poles from Target. I'll be carrying a cheap drawstring pack and lots of water.

I'm debating between wearing my Asolo hiking boots or my Brooks Cascadia trail runners for the hike. I like the Brooks, but I spent a lot of money on the boots and this seems a situation made to use them. Also, the boots might help with should I step near, or on, one of the residents of the mountain. I will be in the land of the Eastern Timber Rattler, and the woods around the Raven's Horn is supposed to be thick with them.