Me and my own two feet

We can do a lot I've discovered, me and my own two feet.  We can scale boulders, fall down a flight of stairs, play hopscotch, pedal Pittsburgh, and even, as it turns out, carry ourselves and all things required to survive the wilderness for the weekend.  This weekend we took ourselves to the Laurel Highlands Hiking trail and traversed 15 miles round trip through scenic ridges, streams, hills, and even a lake before arriving at a place where I allowed my feet to kick themselves up and relax, while the rest of me boiled pasta and roasted hot dogs.

Quite the team we make, my feet and I.  We are new to the whole backpacking thing.  We had our differences, you know that slippery rock where my feet went one way and the rest of me another.  All in all though, we did well together.  We tried out my new Gregory Jade 60 backpack, which by pure oversight happened to match my lime-squeeze colored sleeping pad and camera case a little too well, but served wonderfully for its purpose, making me feel like super woman.  Turns out Cal discovered about the same relationship between himself and his feet, only they can carry him ten times the distance and twice as fast.  Oh and did I mention he has four of them?  Feet I mean, well, paws really.  Cal's my dog, have you meet him yet?  NO?  Well, here he is.

Everyone meet Cal, Cal, meet everyone.  There, get to know each other, Cal comes everywhere with me. He even carried his own pack and gear this time!  While we are on introductions, let me tell you a little more about Cal and I!  We live in Pittsburgh, Pa where I am a student and work as a nanny, Cal is a chipmunk chaser, hiking star, and professional day napper.  We love to hike, run, bike, kayak, and generally run amok in nature as much as possible.

The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail proved to be a great start for a beginning backpacker.  The trail is a total of  70 miles covering a large portion of Southwestern Pennsylvania. I know what you're thinking, 70 miles, don't worry, I'm not crazy.  There are backpacking shelter areas every 6-12 miles, so I chose to hike a section from one shelter area to the next.  I hiked the portion between the Maple Summit Parking Lot and the Route 653 parking lot, approximately 7.6 miles long.  This portion of the trail begins around mile 11 and we ended around mile 18.6  The trail is surprisingly flat for its distance with a bit up and down, crossing a river and several streams almost the entire way.  Cal particularly loved the lake we passed in the first few miles.  He's a sucker for good swim and a game of fetch.

The trail brought us to several wildflowers in full bloom and even a stretch of evergreens crowding around a waterfall, giving a hint of the feeling of forests back home in the West. The trail was incredibly well maintained and clean, the shelter area was great, and the trail was endlessly dotted with natural wonders.  There was flowing water along the entire hike, filter to be safe.  I slept through the night peacefully listening to the sound of the river below and the birds awoke me chirping in the morning.  The shelter's even had their own fireplaces so this hike and overnight stay could potentially be done in cooler fall weather.  So I can't wait to do this hike again when the seasons change.  Felt like only a hop, skip, and a jump away from the city, a mere hour forty five minute drive from Pittsburgh.  There is also a parking lot within short hiking distance to the shelter for those who do not want to do the full hike in, no cars allowed directly in shelter area though.

Painted Trillium

Wild Pink Azaleas

Pink Lady Slipper

I found all the info I needed to prepare for this hike at the DCNR site for Laurel Ridge State Park.  I was even able to make reservations here, just $4 per person for the evening.  Here's some more really helpful maps and information on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.   Feel free to contact me through here to find out more information on the trail.  Oh and pets are allowed on leash, I generally don't go anywhere that prohibits pets, Cal and I are pretty much stuck together at the hip with super glue.