Hiking the Laurel Highlands Trail

Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (LHHT) is a trail that wanted to hike for years.  I can't remember when I first was aware of this 70 mile pathway along Laurel Mountain and various ridges in Western PA,

but every time we drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike to go to Michigan, we pass under the fancy footbridge for the trail.

Somewhere along the way, an idea was conceived to hike this trail, and the ideal time would be after I was no longer working.  So, I proposed the trip to Virginia Backpacking last year, got some interest, planned the trip, made the reservations, and on May 16th, got on the trail with 10 other backpackers for a seven day - six night hike.

The trail runs for 70.5 miles between Johnstown to the north and Ohiopyle to the South.  There are about 12,000 feet of elevation gain and loss along the way, with large elevation changes at the beginning and end.  We left the cars in Ohiopyle, and were dropped off at the northern end by Wilderness Voyageurs, which did a great job for us.  I highly recommend them.  Then, we hiked back to our cars.

The LHHT is very well maintained by Pennsylvania State Parks and by volunteers.  Every mile is marked with a concrete post with the mile mark embossed in it, and there are yellow blazes all along the way every 100-200 feet.  There are eight separate campgrounds, hike in only, every 5 - 12 miles, and these each have five three sided shelters that sleep four reasonably comfortably.  There are also a number of tent sites at each campground.  The campgrounds have men's and women's latrines, a firewood supply (the shelters each have a fireplace, and there are some fire rings as well), and trash drop off.  The campgrounds are all located anywhere from a quarter mile to a mile off the trail, so when we finished, we actually had hiked about 76 miles or even a little more.

Along the way, six of the group dropped out for various reasons, but five of us finished the hike end to end, reaching the Zero Milestone just before noon on May 22.

In the next few days, I will add posts with additional details and photos about:

• The first part of the trip
• The second part of the trip
• The wildflowers and birds encountered (and salamanders)