[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[at-l] LHHT Trip Journal, Part 1

Between May 1-8 Gail Johnson (Gutsy) and I hiked from Johnstown to Ohiopyle
on Western Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. I was glad to have
such good and knowledgable companionship on the trip, my longest to date.
Since my journal is kind of long and I'm still transcribing it, I'll post
info in parts. Thanks to all of you who got me to this point where I could
dare to attempt a thru-hike, albeit a small one!

The LHHT is a 70 mile trail following the top of Laurel Ridge. I believe it
was established in the days of the CCC. There are 8 shelter areas along the
trail; you must file a “hiking plan” of sorts with the rangers, since you
have to reserve shelters in advance. This makes changing plans due to
weather impossible. Each shelter area has six 3-sided shelters
w/fireplaces, 30 tentsites, privies, water, and cut firewood. Hikers are
charged $3/night for shelter use. Concrete markers are set in the trail at
every mile.

Based on the topos, I decided on a north-to-south “countdown” hike -- the
last 12 miles are the roughest *and* the most beautiful. And when we hit
that region, I was glad we’d saved the best for last! I heartily recommend
the N->S route to anyone wanting to hike the LHHT, since you won’t feel
cheated by the scenery if you head that way. 

None of the hills are deadly -- maximum 1500’ elevation change. Most are
closer to 250-500’ elevation changes. An experienced backpacker can pound
through this trail in 4 or 5 days. A novice, like me, is best off counting
on 7-8 days on the trail.

Note: around here, our mountain streams are called “runs.” Sometimes they
run, sometimes they don’t. Best indicator is a sand bottom. If sand, it
probably runs all year. If dirt, leaves, it’s a spring thaw run. I mention
runs a lot in the journal


PREP WORK
Gail arrived the evening before and did a Friar Tuck on my pack. We only
ditched a few items, and I wouldn’t give up my underwear or throw away the
duct tape I had around the MSR bottle. We didn’t ditch too much, mainly
trowel (she had one), tarp (took heavy-duty space blanket instead), camp
soap, scrub pad, a few other small items. We decided to take both stoves so
I'd have the practice.


DAY 1 - 5 MILES - SEWARD (JOHNSTOWN) TRAILHEAD TO RT 56 SHELTER AREA
Late start today due to laziness and lack of concern about hiking “only 5
miles with a total 500’ elevation gain.” Pete Fornoff called, and both of
us talked with him. I led Gail out to Donegal and the Rt 31 trailhead,
where we left her car. Drove into Johnstown via Rt 271, and stopped at Hoss
(a PA steakhouse chain with excellent AYCE salad/bread/fruit/veggie/dessert
bar) for lunch. Stuffed ourselves out, figured we’d have a lunch for dinner.

Got on the trail around 2 pm. The trail guide lied...we couldn’t find water
at the trailhead. Excellent little parking area, paved approach, even
(unlike all others on the trail). Registered (no pencils available, we had
to dig out our own) and headed uphill. Passed a few day hikers. The first
two miles uphill were strenous for me, esp. after a big lunch. The trail
roughly parallels Rt 56 and the Conemaugh river, following the ridgetop
along the river. Lots of river views. It’s an icky river, unfortuately,
terribly polluted from industries in Johnstown. Plenty of rock outcrops
framed with rhododendrons. Mountain laurel took over at lower elevations.
Yellow violets are out. The trail is well marked, not very rocky, and the
blowdowns seemed well-established. The only ones that were a pain were in
an area where the trail was in a ditch and the rhododendrons hung over it;
the blowdowns were across the ditch at thigh height. We came across the
towers shown on the map but couldn’t visit them -- they were ringed by a
chain-link fence. A fire tower, radio/tv transmitter, satellite tower all
in a row on the high point above Johnstown. 

The sky was cloudy but the weather held out. Drizzle started once we got to
the shelter area, probably around 5:30pm. Expect thunderstorm tonight; hope
they’re gone by morning! Gail was too cold and I was too lazy to build a
fire. We put up my space blanket as a windblock. 

The Rt 56 shelter area is downhill down the blue blaze about 1/4 mile from
the trail. Another group - 2 men - are staying in another shelter. It
figures, our shelter is the furthest from the trail. There is a creek
flowing outside the shelter, with young skunk cabbage poking up. By 7 pm,
the wind is kicking up strongly. I put our food in the “bearproof” privy
building. Would you believe - separate multi-stall privy buildings for men
and women! And a handicapped stall, at that! A little late something runs
across me in the shelter. A mouse, or a chipmunk? Don’t know. We find a
nail in the ceiling of the shelter and decide to hang the food there. 

This is a dry section of trail. There is a reservior at the trailhead, then
no water until you reach the run that heads down to the shelter area.


DAY 2 - 8.4 MILES - 271 SHELTER AREA
Woke to blue skies and sunshine. Slept better last night than my last two
outings but still woke up often, thinking about parapackers. Can’t get the
Good Night song out of my mind. The stream outside is gurgling so I
couldn’t tell if it was raining last night or not. Nice water here -- city
water, piped in -or- a gravity fed well. Either way, it tastes good. It was
a struggling getting up and out of the shelter area to the trail again, all
uphill. The trail meandered across logging roads and through a cleared area
with a sinkhole pond. Lots of dead trees on the high ridgetops, I’m not
sure why. Very mild terrain with little underbrush, a few blowdowns. Turned
into a roadwalk on packed limestone road past State Game Lands. We saw a
father and daughter out biking, their dog running along with them. Also a
group of young backpackers with a couple of adult leaders -- looked too
different in age to be scouts, perhaps an inner-city group -- one boy was
almost as big as his backpack! He was bent down under it like a hunchback,
poor kid. 

Stopped for lunch on a high point, at mile marker 60, rocky with mountain
laurel covering the peak. Again, all the big trees are dead. It’s weird,
almost ghostly. Gail saw a badger scurry away from the trail but I missed
it. Plenty of chipmunks and birds playing in the sunshine. Trying to figure
out scat of various types -- no bear or deer, but some critter out here
loves to use the rocks along the trail as a toilet. Saw white and
cream-colored violets today. Passed two state park guys with backpacks and
chainsaws; they were cutting a blowdown apart just as we came upon them.
Timely, eh? Hope they’re working their way north. 

Long, long. long trail to shelter, we estimate 1/3 mile, all downhill of
course. Partially gravel roadwalk along the ranger’s access road. Hand pump
for water this time, the taste isn’t bad. Nice view of the distant ridge,
since there are no leaves on the trees yet. We arrived at 2:15 (left at
8:30)! Didn’t expect to make such good time or I would have spaced the trip
differently (skipped shelter #1). Oh well.  Guess I’m not in as bad a shape
as I assumed. My feet are sore from the weight of pack and me for so many
hours, but no blisters. Shelter weirdness: there are two teeny tiny bottles
of Tabasco sauce sitting on the shelf in the shelter. And I’m having
rehydrated chili (my own) for dinner. Coincidence? Hmmm.... they are sized
just right for a parapacker... 

As we talk about parapackers, Felix, and sleeping bags that look like giant
burritos, I get creative and write a parapacker story. Out of deference to
Bamaman, I won’t post it without his approval -- I love his work too much
to mess it up. But the long wait for nightfall and the beautiful weather
gets the imagination going.  Besides the story, a poem:

To the quiet I go
lost lakes, shooting stars
fire crackles
clouds drift in near silence
the whiporwill sings
a warble, a chirp
wind rustles the leaves
chipmunks scramble and skitter
embers glow
To the quiet I go

Hey, it’s been at least 10 years since I’ve written a poem, so don’t laugh.
I packed two books -- a collection of scifi short stories by Avram Davidson
(supplied by Kahley) and “My Side of the Mountain,” a children’s classic,
so we take time to read. Also take time to wash out and hang underclothes
on the branches of nearby trees, taking advantage of the sunshine. I wish I
were a birder. There are so many different birds flitting about and I can’t
identify them, it’s so frustrating. There’s a sparrow-like bird that has a
bright red stripe on its head. And without my wildflower books, I’m lost.
We saw an unusual one today: white and orange tiny bell-shaped flowers,
leaves like holly.

The guys from the last shelter area come in, and stay across from us in #2.
We have shelter #1 at every area because I didn’t know which ones to pick.
For those of you planning a thru-hike here: I sketched all the shelter area
layouts. Some shelters are closer to facilities, some are more private,
some have excellent views. At least two shelters at every area are set next
to each other, like a corner, so if you are travelling as two groups, you
can stick together. I’ll write a practical guide to the LHHT with this kind
of info, when I have the time. The “Hiker’s Guide” is nice in that it
explains the flora and geology, and tells you where the views are, but it
doesn’t mention shelter layouts or where water sources are between
shelters. Today’s section was totally dry -- no runs -- and often very
exposed hilltops. The only water we saw was a pond in a sinkhole, not a
reliable source.

We’ve dubbed the guys in #2 the Woodchopping Guys. Even though there is an
ample supply of firewood pre-chopped and stacked at every shelter area (you
just have to carry it back to your shelter, a mean feat in some places),
these fellows carry their own axe and cut their own deadfall near the
shelter. Lazy, or smart? Anyway, funny to listen to the chop-chop-chop
knowing they don’t *have* to, they *want* to. One of them came over and
asked if we had matches, wondering why we had no fire the night before. 


MORE TO COME ....

Sandy
GA->ME 1999	<downs@nb.net>	Visit Cyberwall! http://www.nb.net/~downs
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================