Bradford County High Point Trip Report
radio tower on Armenia Mountain 1.25 miles east of Covert (2,440+ ft)
Date: July 7, 2003
Author: Dan Case
Coming from the north, your likely jumping-off point will be Elmira, NY. Get headed south on NY 14
(Exit 52 on NY 17 (future I-86)) and go through Elmira Heights and the city of Elmira itself, then over the
Chemung River and through Southport to where it finally opens up. Remember to bear left at the fork with
NY 328 and go around a great curve south into PA, passing the tobacco stores that never fail to locate just
below the 42nd parallel around here and then the village, such as it is, of Fassett.
Follow PA 14 south about 10 miles to Troy and the junction with US 6. Go right on 6 and follow into
center of town to where 14 turns left and continues south. It's about five miles more to Alba, 29 miles south
from Elmira, which is basically a couple of buildings and a wide spot in the road you'd probably otherwise
speed through. Alba Mountain Road leaves just opposite the Sunoco station, right before the Alba Creek bridge.
The road follows the creek for about 3/4 miles, then turns away to cross between two farms with a
lovely view to the east. At 1.0 mile, the pavement ends (don't worry, the dirt road is in quite good shape
and well-traveled, albeit a little steep). From 14 to the top it is about 900 vertical feet.
At 1.3 miles, a small sign marks the Armenia Township line. The fork and subsequent turn at (unsigned)
Rundall Creek Road are obvious.
At the highpoint, there are two towers. The red and white one to the right, which I guess serves the gas-
pipeline operator Tennessee Gas, is the one indicated on the map. Although the map contour appears not to
cross the road, on the actual land it appears the road itself is somewhat dug in (perhaps things have changed
since it was built, like the erection of the other tower) and there is high ground on both sides. I parked at
height of land, and wandered both sides of the road, and the road itself, looking at what seemed the best
candidates to me for highest. I couldn't quite tell where the knob was. Perhaps in April, with less grass growing,
something may have been obvious that wasn't to me, but really it just looked like an area of deeper,
taller grass.
An area next to the utility pole on the far side from the gate to the pasture next to the antenna also looked good,
as did the areas next to height of land on either side. Most intriguing to me was a small rise a bit
farther down the west side of the road, at the edge of the woods near the fence corner. It was intriguing
because not only was it competitive with the tower environs, it was right next to the largest of several
balsam fir, a tree usually found growing wild only in boreal forests, of which Pennsylvania has none that I'm
aware of, at least not on any of its mountain tops. Perhaps there was some forest disturbance before
someone bought up so much of the land around here and made it into a wildlife preserve.