Allegheny Trail

I thought I was ready for a more challenging trail after backpacking on the Florida Trail but this one was tough.

I considered a section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) but that trail can be too popular. I like being alone to hike. On the AT you will probably see thru-hikers, section-hikers, and day hikers while hiking and at shelters. The section of the Allegheny Trail I hiked was extremely uncrowded. I saw absolutely no hikers during my 7 days on the trail.

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The AT can have trash and have deep ruts or be widened from the traffic. The Allegheny Trail are pristine (too pristine, as it happens). There were multiple sections with weeds or small bushes covering the trail. I just had to push through the plants hoping I was going in the right direction. This picture is the actual trail.

The trail doesn’t have the maintenance support of the AT so that many fallen trees have not been cleared. Many times I had to crawl over, under, or around dead trees to continue the trail.

The last section of the trail seemed to also be used as a horse trail. This was the most difficult section for me. Very rough and lots of deep mud to try to avoid in some way.

Besides the trail condition, I was surprised by the difficulty of the climbs. I thought I had trained by walking several times a week for 2 miles on the treadmill at a 10 degree incline with a 20 pound backpack. However, the real trail can be 45 degrees at times. My total was ~100 miles distance and 19,000+ feet ascent (around the same for Kilimanjaro). They say the only way to train for a hike is to actually do the hike. I believe it.

Another surprising difficulty with the trail was the lack of cell phone service. The first section only had cell phone service on some hill tops. The last half had no service anywhere. Turns out there is a 13,000 square mile area without service so that the Green Bank Radio Telescopes can work. I had to be creative to get messages to my husband. I found one guy (who turned out the have been a former AT thru-hiker), who sent a text for me when he drove outside the zone. In one town, I was able to send an email. Essentially I was only sending a message every other day to let John know I was OK.

OK, all the good things. The views of the mountains was amazing and inspiring.

The weather was a bit hot during the day (80’s) but otherwise wonderful. The views along the trail under the trees was restful.

I loved all the mushrooms and flowers.

The most exciting part was seeing a bear. I saw the bear stretched out on a branch. He heard me and stood up. I called “Hey, bear.”, so I wouldn’t surprise him. He quickly slid down the tree and ran away. Very cool!

And, at the end of the week, I really felt I had accomplished something. It was an amazing challenge.