I’ve got a full Adventure Log and a long video coming this week from Berry Mountain featuring rocky climbs, sketchy pitches, and a deer who seemed miffed at my existence.
Today’s just the teaser and the promise: the story lands with the video.
Route stats and map are prepped; lessons learned are already scribbled in the margins.
If you like old-truck competence and roads that turn into rumors, you’ll want to be here for it.
What to expect from the Berry Mountain Climb video:
Distance: 15.7 miles
Elevation gain/loss: 2,032 ft / 2,120 ft
High/Low elevations: 1,713 ft / 760 ft
Total Time (Not the video length): 2 hours, 2 minutes, 13 seconds
Average speed: 7.7 mph
Max grade: ~14.4% (approximate)
Help the wheels keep rolling, and show your love of affordable adventure with a sticker designed by yours truly!
She limped into the lot in a tired gold Sentra, front tire punching its timecard early, leaving the bead to give the bumper a kiss goodnight.
The humid summer night smelled like hot ATF and regret.
I swung the Cruiser around. Window down: “Need a hand?”
She nodded, grateful, the way people are when they expected the world to look away and it didn’t. She shuffled toward McDonald’s to sit while I popped her trunk and got to work.
It Wasn’t a Trail, But It Was Still a Recovery
This is why I carry gear. Not for a reel. Not for the someday trail heroics. For nights like this, under buzzing parking light lots, with a stranger who just wants to get home.
Spare was intact. Jack present. No lug wrench, which is why a cross wrench lives in my rig.
Her scissor jack wanted the factory tool to spin it, so I used a 13/16 socket and my Makita.
Lugs loose. Wheel off. Donut on.
The compressor hummed and the little tire swelled like a bee sting before antihistamine.
No drama. No mud. Just a quiet win between a cart corral and the smell of fries.
I closed her trunk and handed back the keys, and the thought that wouldn’t leave me alone was this:
Capability matters because it converts to care.
Tools are cool. Mutual aid is cooler.
The Part With More Opinions Than Lug Nuts
We’re taught to outsource everything. Dial the auto club, wait for a truck, stand by the phone.
That’s tidy for a spreadsheet, but it breeds helplessness in the wild where you actually live.
A neighborhood used to be a warranty. Now it’s a parking app and a service tier.
I’m not anti-Triple A. Been a member for as long as I could drive.
I am pro-you, pro-me, pro-we-keep-us-safe.
Ten minutes with a cross wrench beats an hour on hold.
The supply chain is you, with a headlamp and a socket set.
The safety net is us, showing up without asking for permission or giving a customer number (“Which of these 18 digits did you need again?”).
The luxury isn’t leather. It’s competence and enough kindness to share it.
The TLDR:
Your gear should be used. The compressor, cross wrench, and headlamp are not decor. They’re tickets to being useful on ordinary nights.
Skills are a commons. Change one tire and you can teach three people. That is how capacity multiplies.
Check your spare. Spares seep air in the dark. Read the pressure printed on the sidewall and keep it there. A flat spare is dead weight.
Small aid is still aid. You will not fix the world from a parking lot. But you can fix someone else’s day, week, or month.
How To Change A Tire Safely
If you came for the steps, here’s the no-drama version of how to change a tire.
Get safe and seen. Pull out of traffic. Hazards on. Parking brake set. If you have them, toss a couple of wheel chocks or beefy rocks behind the tires that stay on the ground.
Find the jack point. Check the owner’s manual or look for reinforced pinch welds or frame pads near the flat. Avoid soft bodywork.
Crack the lug nuts first. Before lifting, loosen each lug a quarter turn in a star pattern. You want the tire on the ground for leverage.
Lift the vehicle. Position the jack on the correct point and raise the tire just off the pavement.
Remove the wheel. Take the lugs the rest of the way off, keep them somewhere clean, and pull the wheel straight toward you.
Mount the spare. Line up the holes, slide it on, and spin the lugs on finger tight in a star pattern.
Lower and snug. Bring the vehicle back to the ground. Tighten the lugs in a star pattern until they are good and firm. Use a torque wrench if you have one and the spec from the manual.
Air it. Inflate the spare to the pressure written on its sidewall, or the pressure on the driver’s door jamb sticker. If it’s a compact spare, follow the speed and distance limits printed on it. No exceptions for good or bad behavior.
Stow and recheck. Tools away, flat in the trunk, recheck lug tightness after a few miles.
Safety note: A jack lifts. It does not support. Never crawl under a car supported only by a jack. Especially the cheap junk most manufacturers include.
After a little resuscitation, the spare is awake
How to Change a Tire: What You Should Have
Cross lug wrench.
Compact compressor.
Tire plug kit.
A jack you trust (bottle or low-profile floor jack if you have space).
Headlamp or work light.
Gloves and a kneeling pad.
Wheel chocks.
A spare with the correct pressure printed on its sidewall.
The Quiet Point
Adventure Adjacent isn’t just trails and pretty vistas. It’s the tiny civic moments where capability turns into kindness.
Check your gear. Check your spare. And when someone limps into a parking lot at 10 pm, be the person who stops.
Help the wheels keep rolling, and show your love of affordable adventure with a t-shirt designed by yours truly!
Fishing Creek Nature Preserve Trail Map. From Susquehannock State Park until I turned around right before the second ford.
I bought the Cruiser on a Tuesday and by Thursday night (January 30th, 2025) I was already trusting it with my dignity on an ice-covered goat path. That is the peculiar optimism of new-to-you ownership. The paint’s already got some swirls and scratches, so… Send it!
OnX showed just one trail within an hour of me, out by Holtwood. The turn-by-turn started in the serene Susquehannock State Park and dropped through paved hairpins to a gravel ribbon where Fishing Creek cuts the road 3 times on concrete slabs.
“Easy,” it said.
Like a public-access tutorial level with minimal consequences.
I left Lancaster after dinner at 8:45 and headed south.
Nine days before, on January 21, about six inches of white and fluffy dropped, from New Holland to East Petersburg, which means north-facing hollows kept their shine long after the salt trucks punched their timecards. By 8:53 pm on January 30 the air was a crisp 34 degrees, with light wind and a mostly clear sky. (WGAL, Weather Spark)
FJ, Meet Fishing Creek Nature Preserve
Stock Headlights at Fishing Creek Nature Preserve on a Moonless night
Out past the last porch light, the factory headlights might as well have been whale-oil lanterns. The weak, yellow beams reflected off a sign I’ve learned to love: No Winter Maintenance.
6 inches of snow through 9 days of partial melt, refreeze, and equally adventurous drivers and the trail became a hard packed, NHL-level practice spot.
Creek corridors hold cold longer than a scorned partner, which is exactly how you get a skating rink on a trail and a grin in the windshield’s reflection.
I got to the first ford and saw just how deep the hard pack had become. Three or four inches down into a quick moving stream, five or six inches back up. I dropped carefully but knew I’d need to carry a little speed to get back up the other side.
The trail beyond was slick, glossy, and narrow, lined with hemlock unseeable on the moonless night.
I tip-toed tensely to the second crossing but chose to keep both the truck and my reputation intact. The 72-point turn I executed would bore an audience, but it was the smart move when faced with rushing water alone in the winter with no signal.
Rhythm, not Volume
An icy incline illuminated by old, fogged headlights, just past the first ford.
Out here, adventure isn’t volume, it’s rhythm. The knob doesn’t need to be turned all the way to the right to get that thrill. A tune hummed below the breath while you do something dangerous, difficult, and rewarding.
Small inputs, simple lines, and the humility to reverse out before the story gets expensive.
If there is a creed in that, it’s ancient but practical: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. On sketchy trails it begins with measured throttle tip-in and leads to decisions that get you home.
The Part Where We Act Like Grownups
The Lancaster Conservancy calls Fishing Creek a preserve, which is a diplomatic way of saying “behave yourself.” Treat the trail not like a toy you borrow, but a tool you own. Cut your teeth here but leave the braggadocio at home.
Live mindfully. Leave quietly. The trail should look the same through the windshield as it does in the rearview.
Final Thoughts
An icy incline illuminated by old, fogged headlights, just past the first ford.
What I learned, besides the limits of late-halogen-era lighting, is that capability only counts when it comes wrapped in judgment. I went in and came out a rookie with a gold star in good judgment.
It was a perfectly fine night. No trophy, no drama, just the first entry in the field notes.
When, Where, Conditions
When: Jan 30, 2025 from 8:30-10:30 pm near Lancaster, about 34°F, mostly clear, light wind. Shaded creek cuts stay icy even when air temps flirt with freezing.
Route: Public gravel road along Fishing Creek with three shallow fords on concrete slabs, wending away from Susquehannock State Park. Remote, narrow in places, easy when water is low. (onX Maps, Lancaster Conservancy)
Backdrop: Susquehannock State Park sits on a wooded plateau with river overlooks worth a daylight return. (Pennsylvania Government)
Stream note: Fishing Creek is designated high-quality cold-water habitat supporting wild trout. Tread lightly. (Lancaster Conservancy)
Recent snow: Jan 21 storm dropped roughly 5.5 to 6.3 inches around the county, which helps explain lingering ice.
Sky: Waxing crescent ~2% and already set by 7:17 pm, so moonless dark at go-time. (Time and Date)
Just before the drop into the rushing water on an icy moonless night.
How many creek crossings are on Fishing Creek?
Three. A public gravel road follows the stream through the preserve and fords it in three spots.
Is this road maintained in winter?
No. It’s a rural gravel road through a nature preserve and can be difficult in wet or winter weather. Always check conditions and travel prepared.
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