The Lonely Path: The Standing Stone Trail

I forgot to mention in the post below that in four days on the Standing Stone Trail, I encountered not another soul. It was indeed a solitary path, even though it doesn’t pass through anything you might call wilderness.  It crosses quite a few roads, passes through two little towns, and it’s typically not more than a few miles from a public roadway.  The rangers at Greenwood Furnace said they usually only get section hikers; not many people attempt the whole 84 miles in one swoop.  At one point, when I was trying unsuccessfully to put an end to a very difficult day of trekking on Stone Mountain, I lost the trail and wandered down Allensville Mountain Road to look for it.  This is the fine view that greeted me.

A backpacking friend recently convinced me to start using these bag meals that you can buy at outdoorsy stores like Public Lands.  It saves on washing up because you just put boiling water right in the bag and seal it for 20 minutes.  They’re tolerably edible and lightweight, too, even if they are expensive.  I thought they would be less attractive to bears than dirty dishes, too, and so I grudgingly started using them on this long trip.  When I finally made camp in the hollow beneath Stone Mountain that night, I thought this was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten.

Here are a few miscellaneous shots from that trek.

The interior of the little stone church on the grounds of Greenwood Furnace State Park.  The ceiling is very high, and I find the simplicity of it...reassuring, comforting.

Here's the Alan Seeger Natural Area of the Rothrock State Forest, where the trees stand so tall and straight.  The streams were flowing nicely through this part of the forest, though they were dry as ashes just 20 miles to the south.

One of the many cabins on private land near the state forest.  "Ohio Cabin"?  I wonder what that means.

This is one of the humbler views from the summit of Stone Mountain, a vista called "Willie's Window."

I fled the desiccated Standing Stone Trail for a lonely place I know that's always watery: The Roaring Plains West Wilderness Area, in the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia.  Find photos from that trip HERE.