Butler Knob Area, Jacks Mountain, Standing Stone Trail

I've been spending all my weekends on the Standing Stone Trail.  I don't consider it quarantine-breaking because I interact with no one on the trip out there or back.  Never in my adult life have I had weekends free, and I love it.  This time around, I decided to check out the Butler Knob area of Jacks Mountain.

Of course, I've published pictures of this scene before.  It's the so-called Throne Room on Jacks Mountain, a little north of Butler Knob.  I like the way the lower mountains off to the east look almost like waves frozen in their sequence as they rush to break on the craggy shore.  Wooded waves.

My younger daughter wanted to come with me on this trip, and it was so wonderful to have her there, even though I usually go to the woods to get away from people and the roles their presence imposes on me--like the role of father.  It was just a joy to spend time with her, to hear about the things she thinks about, to share some of my interests with her.  This is the view from the top of Butler Knob, the highest peak on Jacks Mountain.  Many mountains, of course, have more than one peak.  This scene looks from the taller one down onto a lower one, but all on the same hill.

Some long distance trails, like the Laurel Highlands Trail, have shelters like this one built at regular intervals.  The only shelter along the Standing Stone Trail is on the lower reaches of Butler Knob.  Actually, this place is odd enough.  My daughter and I parked at Singers Gap, where Jacks Mountain Road comes to a T on the summit, then hiked in a few miles toward Butler Knob.  Rain was threatening, so we put down camp in a spot that we assumed was secluded.  In the morning we awoke to the sound of gunshots.  It was the first day of spring gobbler season, and there were pickups with New York and Ohio plates parked not thirty feet from our campsite.  We had no idea we were just a few bushes away from Jacks Tower Road.

I didn't love hiking with my kid among people shooting guns--even lower powered rifles for turkey.  We also crossed paths with two different groups of way-cool trail runners, who didn't mind all the shooting.  The mountain was teeming with humankind that morning.  But it was very much worth the visit.  We hiked back to the car, drove into Huntingdon for dinner, then drove back up Jacks Tower Road and parked thirty feet from the campsite that we had thought was so secluded.  Breaking camp has never been easier, and it was sure nice NOT to have to load up the pack and lug a wet tent back down the mountain.