Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Laurel Highlands, 1st Day of Fall

I happened across this disused old church on a backroad into Ohiopyle. I say "disused" because though it's clearly not in use, but nor is it abandoned.  It apparently merged with a larger church in Uniontown and is now considered a "chapel" of the town church.

Christ Lutheran Church, in an area known as Chalk Hill, sits along the same road as Kentuck Knob, which is Frank Lloyd Wright's second most famous house in Fayette County.  This is truly beautiful countryside with picture-perfect farms and grand, sweeping vistas out over distant mountains.
Ohiopyle State Park would take some time to thoroughly explore.  It's large, and it's not the only expanse of public lands to enjoy down here.  There are other state parks, and state forests, and even the state game lands are worth a hike.  The Youghiogheny River runs wild and fast.  

I do hate the way the wild grapevines overtake the forests, but it was so unfair to see so many clusters of delicious wild grapes hanging just out of reach.  They were in real abundance along one of the trails.  Do you remember the flavor of these seedy, thick-skinned fruits?  There's not much flesh to them, but they're really delicious.


Here's the entrance to Baughman Rock, which has one of the best overlooks in the park.  Two other good overlooks can only be reached with a vigorous hike, but this one is relatively close to a forest road.
The view from Baughman Rock.  All of the overlooks I visited in the park were being overtaken by trees, which obstruct the view.  I hope the park service will do some cutting.
Another angle on top of Baughman Rock...
Again, the river wending its way through the valley is the Youghiogheny, affectionately (or lazily) known to locals as "The Yawk."  
This pleasant spot in the forest can only be reached by hiking a few miles in.  You'll think you're in deep wilderness until a noisy train passes right beneath view.  This is the Paradise Overlook, and it's one of my favorite places at Ohiopyle.  It's les grand than some views, but you're pretty sure to have it all to yourself.  In my constant rush to flee to West Virginia, I'd forgotten how lovely the Laurel Highlands can be.  I did see a nice little cabin for sale down here a few years ago.  If only I'd known what a rare opportunity that was!  
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A Late Summer Return

I knew it was fool's errand.  I'd lost my favorite set of Protestant prayer beads early on in my summer trek across the expanse of the Allegheny National Forest.  It was my first full morning on the trail, having just wakened early at a lovely beachside campsite near Handsome Lake Campground.  I had just hiked up out of the lake valley and set down my pack at the top of a hill--winded.  Like any good pilgrim, I was wearing the beads as an oversize bracelet.  And when I cast the heavy pack off my back, they simply flew from my wrist, and I never noticed till after I was 1/8th of a mile down the trail.   
I turned around and went looking for them, but to no avail.  It was late May and the forest was dense with greenery and undergrowth.  I quickly made my peace with a bead-free pilgrimage, but it was only much later that I remembered: I had originally thrown my pack off my back and onto a fallen tree to the right of the trail.  Then, because that tree was too small, I moved it to a stump on the left side of the trail, so that I could rummage through it without its falling over.  When I returned to look, I had only checked around the stump--not the original spot where I'd put down the pack.  A part of me almost could have believed that I'd find them there three and a half months later.  And so...I went back.
To be honest, it's not the only reason I went back.  I wanted to be in the Allegheny National Forest again, in the sweet embrace of my dear old friend.  I wanted its late summer hush to take me in, to envelope me in its verdant light.  I wanted that place to bracket the beginning and the ending of this pandemic summer in my troubled life.  It's not more troubled than anyone else's I suppose, but I'm just so tired of this pandemic--tired of the deniers, the anti-vaxxers, who prolong it by allowing mutant variants to breed.  I had personal and public questions to ponder, and thoughts to think, and a few griefs to walk with--and naturally I wanted to do all of that up there.  
Of course I never found the beads--despite the 2.5-hour drive up from Pittsburgh.  They could be lining a now-abandoned bird's nest.  They might have gotten stolen away by a chittering squirrel.  It's possible that they were right there under my nose, but covered over by fallen leaves, or summer flora, or decaying bark.  I was aware even as I dug around the fallen tree with my stick that I could have been burying them even deeper.  Ah, but they were beautiful before I lost 'em.  They were made of dark green jasper stones with a copper Celtic cross.  So beautiful.  I could probably buy another set just like them if I looked hard enough...but I was attached to these.  
The fall season was so much further along up there than it was down here.  But it's still more summer than autumn.  The silence of that great forest was lovely and pure--a healing balm for the tired mind.  
Another reason I didn't mind spending 5 hours in the car (2.5 each direction) and only 2 hours on the trail is that I've been looking for a little plot of land to build a cabin on.  I'd love to build it up there, but I've got my eye on West Virginia, too.  Ah, West Virginia.  This summer has been made up largely of trips to New Mexico and West Virginia.  Much more about those treks in the "annex," see below for links.
It was a joy to be back in the North Woods in the waning, yellow-tinted days of late summer--when the green still predominates, but its depth gives way to a lighter hue.
But alas, the exploring that I did this past summer was mainly done in New York State, New Mexico, and of course West Virginia.  The New Mexico trip was a ghost-towning adventure--real ghost towns, not the kind where they offer tours.  
To find those photos and write-ups, follow these links:






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