Gregg Hill, Allegheny National Forest

To bag the (previously) unclaimed peak of Gregg Hill, I found a spot to park along the beautiful Millstone Creek in the Allegheny National Forest. A bald eagle soared serenely just above the quiet surface of the creek as I was standing on its banks, taking in the cool, fishy smell of a woodlands spring. It was a Wednesday afternoon, but there were fishers aplenty parked along Millstone Road.

I picked this spot because I saw on my maps that a pipeline swath runs all the way to the summit. Mind you, this is our public lands—though Trump and his band of evil baboons plan to further decimate the Allegheny National Forest in order to avoid buying lumber fro Canada.  I HATE the fact that the ANF is an industrial forest to the great expense of watershed protection, conservation, and recreation. Lumber, oil, gas. Republicans can only see the value in a thing that has a price tag attached, shallow and soulless as they are. That said…it was convenient to simply hike the pipeline swath to the top of Gregg Hill.

Standing at 1,601 feet above sea level, Gregg Hill barely qualifies for “mountain” status.  There were no views from the top, and I did have to bushwhack a bit to stay off a small piece of privately owned land, where I heard a pack of dogs barking angrily. They sounded like hounds, which are usually kept in pens, so I wasn’t too worried about them. But trespassing seemed unwise out here. 

This hunting stand presides over the pipeline meadow at the edge of someone’s private property. 

It was a pleasant day to roam the springtime woods. The only significant thing about this hike is that when I got home in the evening I found a tick. It had attached itself to my hip, but not very deeply. I removed the whole thing in one piece, but the bite was painful, which is unusual, and surrounded by the infamous red ring. It swole up and ached a little into the evening. Two days later, early Friday morning, I felt a sore throat coming on as I slept. When I got out of bed, I had the most excruciating sore throat of my life. It felt like a large splinter was stuck in my gullet. I also had a stiff neck and a headache. Lyme disease. I’ve had it once before. I got a prescription for doxycycline—two weeks—and it was only today, Tuesday, that I’ve started to feel better. It’s my own fault. I got lazy and thought I’d hurry to the top of the hill and back down without bothering to take precautions against ticks.