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Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in western Pennsylvania

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    • Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in western Pennsylvania

      Here's the trip report I promised...........................

      Early on Saturday, April 8th, Kathy, me, and our dog Tora climbed into our already packed car and drove 7.5 hours west to Donegal, PA where we had reservations at a motel. The following morning after breakfast we climbed back into the car and drove to Ohiopyle to find Wilderness Voyagers, the outfitter that would provide us with a shuttle to the north end of the Laurel Highland Hiking Trail. It was about 8:30 and our shuttle wasn’t scheduled until 10 with another hiker to join us. At the appointed time we climbed into the 15 passenger van and made the 2 hour drive to Laurel Highlands State Park, where the trail terminates.
      Just about noon we put on our packs and headed off. After signing in we walked on and soon passed mile marker 70.The trail is 70 miles long and has a marker at each mile. Sometimes I was glad to see a particular marker and sometimes it was a distraction or curse. When we planned this trip we realized we’d probably never be back to this trail so decided to spend a night at each of the camping areas. And since you have to make a reservation, and pay a fee, to use the areas the pace and schedule for our hike was set by those reservations. The first day was a 6 mile, up hill, hike. Our packs were heavy with 9 days food and our legs were stiff from spending the previous day in the car.We were glad to arrive and find our assigned shelter. We were surprised to see how luxurious the area was. While it appeared to be backcountry camping that is just an illusion. Each camping area has 5 shelters, plenty of room for tenting, separate men’s and women’s bathrooms complete with TP and hand sanitizer, garbage bins, a water pump and firewood that was cut and split. There was also an access road to each site. Some of the sites had streams through them and some didn’t. Our hiking days were defined by the distance between these camp sites ranging between 6 and 12 miles. The first few days water was a concern as we didn’t see any streams near the trail until we got to mile 47, after that there was ample water. On our second evening there were several other people at our campsite and we all got together to use the 1 picnic table for dinner. One local told us that rangers did come around to check registration and if you were found to be camping at one of the sites without a registration it was a $350 fine. And sure enough, the next evening we did have a ranger drive into camp and check our registration. The trail itself is very nicely laid out so that most hills are gentle and it winds it’s way though state park and game lands with a few short stretches of private property. There’s also a mile walk on a gravel road but we didn’t have any traffic so no problem. As the trail makes it’s way it crosses many woods roads, and snow mobile tracks and a couple of other hiking trails. The woods were of maple, oak, cherry and beech with some hemlock trees in the mix. There were rocks for sure, but very interesting rocks. Imagine taking a walk through a labyrinth with walls 5 through 8 feet high and made of rock. Well that describes several areas we walked through. We did have a little rain.2 evenings we sat in our shelter with our after dinner tea and listened to rain on the roof, very soothing. And 1 of those nights the sky opened up and it poured for hours during the dark of night. The next to last day it did drizzle on and off but not enough to ever really get us wet. We started on a Sunday and on Thursday we had the most excitement of the trip. A woman day hiker was out with her 2 dogs and neither was leashed. One of them ran up to our dog, who is always leashed, and a wild dog fight erupted. It only lasted a few seconds and when I pulled our dog out of the fray I saw that she was bleeding badly because her upper, right, canine tooth was pulled out of position and partially out of her jaw. In an instant we decided that probably the best way to stop the bleeding was to push the tooth back into position. Kathy held our dogs head still while I applied pressure to the tooth. At first it didn’t move and 2 more tries got it to where I wanted it. With that done we decided to put distance between us and the woman’s dogs. Interestingly, the woman never did take control of her dogs. We hiked fast around them until we came to a stream that was out of sight of them. There we washed all the blood off of us and took a good look at Tora’s tooth. The bleeding was mostly stopped and she was acting like nothing much had happened. We took a break there before hiking on. For the rest of the trip we kept a careful eye on our dog but she handled it all very well.For a day or two she didn’t eat much but then went back to her regular meals. The next to last day ended with a long, very steep, down hill into the Ohiopyle shelter area. I think that may have been the hardest part of the trip. The next, and last day of the hike took us to mile 0 of the trail and then it was a short walk on a side trail back to the outfitter’s shop where we had left our car. We went back to the same motel we had used before the trip where we cleaned up and took a nap. Then it was out for a celebratory diner at The Tavern in the town of Legonier. We spent the evening, after dinner walking around this very nice town and ended our walk at an ice cream shop. Then it was back to the motel and the next day we drove home.
      All in all it was a very good trip and I’d recommend this trail to hikers of all abilities.

    • Glad you had a nice trip and I hope your pooch is okay.

      I spent a lot of time on that trail in the 80's and loved every minute of it. Even had DIY tarps made to fit the entrance ways on either side of the fireplaces to keep out the cold wind. Nothing better than falling asleep while watching a nice fire. I sure do miss Pa.
      RIAP
    • Trebor wrote:

      Glad you had a nice trip and I hope your pooch is okay.

      I spent a lot of time on that trail in the 80's and loved every minute of it. Even had DIY tarps made to fit the entrance ways on either side of the fireplaces to keep out the cold wind. Nothing better than falling asleep while watching a nice fire. I sure do miss Pa.
      Many complain about having to stay in shelters in GSMNP on the AT, but when I was going through in March and weather got down into the teens with snow and ice I certainly enjoyed those fireplaces. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Trebor wrote:

      Glad you had a nice trip and I hope your pooch is okay.

      I spent a lot of time on that trail in the 80's and loved every minute of it. Even had DIY tarps made to fit the entrance ways on either side of the fireplaces to keep out the cold wind. Nothing better than falling asleep while watching a nice fire. I sure do miss Pa.
      We were wondering what the hardware mounted along the corners of the shelters and sides of the chimneys were for, I guess now I know