Brent’s Overlook, Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail

While planning my thru-hike on the Laurel Highlands Trail, I've been watching YouTube videos posted by people who have hiked all 70 miles of the trail and documented the highlights.  One such highlight was "Brent's Overlook" between mile 21 and mile 22.  

It's actually two overlooks, one a little more expansive than the other, and only about 100 feet apart.

I didn't realize that I'd actually been to this part of the trail before--TWICE--on day hikes.  There's a little purple lizard at about this spot on the Purple Lizard map of the Laurel Highlands.  One fun thing about the Purple Lizard maps is that they indicate sites of interest with little purple lizards, but they don't typically tell you what the lizard stands for.   

Is it a waterfall?  An interesting rock formation?  An especially old and enormous tree?  They don't tell you.  You're supposed to go and find out for yourself.  Some years ago, I went to a place very near to Brent's Overlooks, and I found something plenty interesting and assumed that I'd solved the lizard mystery.

What I found was a magnificently-shaped tree with a rock cliff just below it.  I decided to hang out on the rock cliff for a while and admire the tree, and then somehow life took me back to that spot in the woods a second time.  But neither time did I actually see the attraction that the lizard really represented: Brent's Overlooks.  The lizard was trying to tell me about these scenic views--which I only learned about by watching YouTube, and which were near enough to my stupid tree that I could have hit them with a stone.

On both of my previous trips, I settled for this beautiful tree.  And it is beautiful, graceful, unique, old.  On those trips, I stopped under this tree, as I said, and hung out on the rocks that are not pictured, and I thought, "Cool spot."  I went no further down the trail.  The overlooks were less than 200 feet away.  Tell me, why do I give up so easily?  Why do I always settle for so much less than there is?

The porcupines are killing this wonderful tree, to boot.  They've chewed off the bark all the way around the bottom, and I don't think a tree can survive that kind of assault.  Ah, but Brent's Overlooks were worth a return hike to this part of the Laurel Highlands Trail.  I hope the next time I see the view from the overlooks, I'll have 30 pounds on my back!