or: Why it Took Thirteen Hours Over Three Weeks to Hike the First Seven Miles of the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail

Trail Gallery
Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Official Page

Okay, a couple of fine points first:

• I’m not a backpacker. I bought a truck so I’d have room to carry all my stuff on a 3 day/2 night camping trip. I’m not about to carry my life on my back for weeks at a time. In the words of Brett Weston: “If it’s more than 20 yards from the car, it’s not a photograph.” So, when I plan to hike a long trail, it’s got to have accessable trailheads not too many miles apart. Whatever distance I hike in, I’ll have to hike out. The 70 mile Laurel Highlands Trail will eventually take me 140 miles to finish.
• The kids stopped hiking with me years ago, as I cannot resist the urge, at any given moment, to strike out directly across country. “What’s this? Looks like a shortcut…” Turn left at the rock that looks like a bear. Turn right at the bear that looks like a rock, and, three weeks later…
• I’m an old, fat, lazy smoker, and it takes me a long time to get up one of these hills.

So, back in 2008, I figure it’s time to tackle the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. A nice thing about wandering around Johnstown and PA’s Southern Alleghenies is that, no matter how alone you think you are, no matter how far out in the wilds you may be; if you travel in a straight line, you’re never more than a thirty to sixty minute walk from a paved road. The plan is to hike the first 5 miles of trail, straight up the ridge, to the Decker Avenue fire tower. Next leg, I can drive up to the tower and continue south to PA Rt. 271. 10-12 miles today and maybe 16 or so miles next time.

Well, I get half-way up the ridge, huffing and puffing all the way, and I see this guy standing by a pile of boulders. “What’s up?” “Oh, the kids are down checking out the old iron furnace.” “Iron furnace?” I’d had no idea there were ruins on the steep slope. So, I left the trail and headed downhill (not thinking I’d have to go back up again) and checked out the old iron furnace too. By the time I was satisfied, it was close to Steeler game time, so, puffing and huffing, head for home and save the rest of the climb for another day.

Second Attempt- One week later and my kind of weather, seriously: bitter cold, high winds and snow squalls. I finally reach the top of the ridge, overlooking Morrellville and the Conemaugh Valley, biting wind huffing and puffing nearly as hard as I am, exhausted, iced to the bone, numb, like Lawrence’s frozen bird; and never having felt more alive in my life. Life is good. First leg is over and I’m well on my way to Ohiopyle. I’m looking forward to the next trip, which should get me half-way from the tower array to the Ligonier Pike.

Thanksgiving Sunday: snow on the ground, but clear skies and bright sun. I drive to the fire tower, spend a few minutes looking for the trail, and, finding it, head south. I get about three miles in, discovering and exploring the shelter area on the way. The time at the shelters cut into my hiking time and it’s warming up quite a bit. Reaching a power line leading from New Florence generating station, I see, down slope about a hundred yards, a quad track. “Oh. Looks like a shortcut…” Two hours later, before I realize what I’ve done, I’m back down at Big Spring Reservoir, the Peach Orchard, the Northern Terminus, the bottom of the Laurel Ridge, and I have to hike up that stinking mountain ONE MORE TIME to get back to my truck! And, huffing and puffing, I loved every minute of it.

Enjoy the pics while I research my next trip.

Drove the length of the city and then some last February on a snow squall day and grabbed some photos up and down the valley. Let’s see. We covered Moxham, Hornerstown, Morrelville, Cambrial City, Prosser Hollow, Coopersdale and the Conemaugh Gap. We’ve got trains, trees, tracks, bridges, steel mills, rivers, hills, a coupla crows, snow, squalls and ice. Trying to clean up the backlog, so here are the photos for you. Johnstown PA shore can be purty at times.

The laurelight Winter’s Day Album is here, and the regular stuff is below. Click on any picture to enlarge.

A few years back, the Lovely Miss Brenda and I rode the Johnstown Inclined Plane down to the FolkFest (now the Ameriserv Flood City Music Festival) while The Boy (Budd/Zach), who was along for the ride, insisted on hiking down the Yoder Hill trail. When he caught up with us later, he encouraged me to make the trek myself, which I finally did a month ago.

I’ve been intrigued with urban trails ever since Budd’s Mom and I lived on Boston’s Riverway, and would walk the Olmstead greenway over to Fenway for a Sox game, or up to Jamaica Pond for, well, whatever it was we used to do on summer Sunday afternoons there. I also enjoyed late, when we moved to Waltham, biking the trails along the Charles (love that dirty water) in either direction. There’s something secretive about being surrounded by green while catching glimpses of skyscrapers and apartment buildings through the foliage. The Inclined Plane Trail took me back, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Best advice I can provide is to plan your hike so you ride the Inclined Plane up the steep Yoder Hill and walk down the trail. Much nicer views between, say, November and April, when the leaves are down. Check it out in the Inclined Plane Trail gallery here or by clicking any of the images below.

You can keep your Golden Gates and your Verrazano-Narrowseses. The only cable suspension I need is Hooversville’s swinging bridge. I love the concrete arch and steel truss bridges of Johnstown, PA. The concrete arches at Central Avenue, Haynes Street, and Napoleon Street hover like great seabirds over the Stonycreek River. My favorites, though, are the steel truss bridges that dot the landscapes around the world. Here in Johnstown, these bridges are not only functional, they link us to the region’s industrial past, and they’re brimming with photo opportunities.

Bridges span dimensions, not only spatial, but spiritual, temporal and emotional as well. I had the opportunity to explore these dimensions on my recent hike up the new Pegasus sewer line from Conemaugh Borough to Bonair (or is it Bon Air?), when I got up close and personal with the Colonel John Joseph Tominac Memorial Bridge between Woodvale and Franklin. The bridge was originally built to carry thousands of millrats and other commuters every day to and from the Franklin mills and surrounding towns. Colonel John Joseph Tominac was a Conemaugh native who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for conspicuous bravery in World War II. His story is rather impressive. The bridge, although it doesn’t come close to the Colonel’s achievements, is pretty cool too.

Lightroom photo album of Johnstown’s Tominac Memorial Bridge is here. Otherwise click on any image below for the regular gallery.

Turning my back on the Borough and downtown Johnstown, PA, I tromped through the crusty snow covering the Pegasus sewer line along the hillside overlooking the Woodvale neighborhood. Good views are tough to come by up here in the hills, what with all the trees and undergrowth, but, once in a while, you can find an open spot. Your best shots come between late fall and early spring when the foliage isn’t working against you. Of course, that means most days will bring your typical grey, blah lighting. You do what you can.

The overhead shots are on the way out. I grabbed a few street-level photos on the way back in. That Maple Avenue car wash has some real potential, and I look forward to getting back there and doing it up right. Also drawn to the old churches and trains, but there are lots of railroad sites on the web. Woodvale, like all of Johnstown’s neighborhoods, and the surrounding towns and boroughs, still has some very photogenic scenes, in spite of the regional atrophy. Wish I had at least a day to spend in each location I shoot. The Lightroom photo album of Johnstown PA’s Woodvale neighborhood is here. As usual, click on any image below for the WordPress gallery.

Super Bowl Sunday. Hours before game time. What’s a poor boy like me, who hates the hype and detests crowds, supposed to do? Time to hike the new Pegasus sewer line between Conemaugh Borough and Bon Air and see If I can capture some more-or-less unique photos of Johnstown PA. From the minute I parked the car in front of 709 Railroad the images started jumping in front of the lens. Took so many shots that day, we’ll have to break them down into 3 or 4 different posts. This one’s all about the original Johnstown: Conemaugh Borough, named for the original immigrant village located somewhere in the valley, Conemach Old Town. By the way, any of you ever hear of the USS Conemaugh?

The Boro’s a photogenic and historic place. I’ll have to do a little research and spend a little more time there, get you some more photos. Anyway, pretty Conemaugh Borough photo album is here, and the regular gallery, as usual, is available by clicking on any of the images below.

…I fell into the Clear Shade Creek? As if there isn’t enough trouble to get into around Johnstown, PA, I headed up to the Somerset County division of Gallitzin State Forest and the Clear Shade Wild Area. Over 2 miles from the truck, 19 degrees, and 2 1/2 feet of snow. And this wasn’t fresh snow. Y’know when you take a step, and your foot sinks down so far, and then you put your weight on it, and you sink down another foot? Yeah. And this was my especially lucky day. Many of you know the Clear Shade doesn’t run much deeper than 1-2 feet, but I was fortunate enough to find a waist deep pool. No, the camera didn’t go in, but the only way I could get enough leverage to work my way out was to thrust my left hand, holding the Canon 30D, deep into the snow covering the bank. And look, I’m not *completely* stupid. I know that streams will undercut the snow hanging over their banks. I just needed another…inch…or…two…KERPLASH. And it wouldn’t even have made that nice of a shot.

I love those cheap, green China-Mart boots with the yellow fuzz inside, but lemme tell you how much water they, and a pair of wool socks, can hold. They hold a lot. I pulled myself out of the creek and sloshed through the snow looking for a place to get myself together. And you know, there’s no place, in January, on top of the whole Allegheny Mountain, to find a dry seat. So I leaned my butt up against the stump of a small tree to catch my breath. I laboured to keep my balance while removing my boots and wringing my socks. I managed to get at least a quart of water out of each foot. I headed off, soaked gloves frozen to my pants and coat arms pulled down over my hands to fend off Jack Frost’s bite. Fortunately, my smokes and matches stayed dry through the entire ordeal. I finally made it home, and poured and wrung again, and got another quart of water out of each foot. May be time to get a decent pair of boots. And snowshoes. And maybe some cross-country skis.

The camera was fine. I turned it off immediately, and, when I got home, opened it up and let it dry out for a few days. I love my life; especially the more exciting moments (wish I could have seen the look on my face), and especially in hindsight. One of these days I’ll tell you about the time I had to climb up the Laurel Ridge three times, just to get to the same point on the trail. Until then, maybe these photos will keep you entertained.

Just a few miles north of Johnstown, PA, through the Conemaugh Gap on PA Route 403, (that’s Cramer Pike to the locals), a gem of a natural resource xlings to the steep slopes of Rager Mountain. Spectacular views, challenging trails, boulder fields and the many small waterfalls along Clark’s Run make the Charles F Lewis Natural Area a noted destination for outdoor lovers, so I grabbed the camera one October Sunday afternoon and headed through the Gap to see what I could see. I hope you enjoy the results.

I got down to the creek about 7:00am and found a couple of folks and 2 dogs camped on the banks, but no fishermen. My original assumption was that fishermen don’t get up as early as photographers do. It was only when I got to work the following Monday that I learned Opening Day doesn’t start till 8:00am. It was my first jaunt down the 1/4 mile long Fisherman’s Path (accessed from Clear Shade Road) and I found myself about 50 yards further upstream than I had ever been. So this was the splash dams that my brother and his buddy, Larry Kmeil, had talked about: a broad glade of ponds, reeds and shrubs right in front of my camera. With no fishermen around, I took a few shots of the Creek and the adjacent John P. Saylor Trail and headed out. Ascending out of the glen, I finally saw my first fishermen of the day, on their way down to the creek.

The photo of the Flight 93 Memorial is certainly the non sequiter it appears to be in this gallery, but I wanted to scope the fishing action along the Stonycreek, and thought, while I was in the area, I’d try to reshoot a photo I had taken a couple years before and wasn’t happy with. Who knew they had moved the Memorial across the road and completely altered the composition? As for Opening Day, anglers dotted the Stonycreek from Shanksville, near it’s source, down through Kantner, Hooversville and at least as far as Hollsopple. Thirty years ago, this river was orange and dead. Now look at it. Hollsopple looked like a real fine party going on, and I regret I didn’t have more time to spend there.

One more point to make (okay, a couple more): heading back to Johnstown along 403 and feeling a little peckish, I was trying to work out a scenario for lunch. Cheap and lazy as I am, with my time as well as my money, I hesitated to stop at Sheetz or some other “fast food emporium (there’s a reason they call it JUNK food). Well, God bless the Conemaugh Township Fire Department. Making my way through Tire Hill, there stands a woman at the side of the road waving a sub in my face. Hallelujah! Good food cheap AND quick. Pretty smart having a sub sale on Opening Day,

Finally, if you’re interested in learning more about trout fishing in the highlands, check out the Mountain Laurel Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Good info and pics and a chance to join up.

Enjoy the photos.