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  1. #1
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Allegheny Trail - short section hike 8/22-24/11

    With hurricane Irene approaching, we moved our short section hike of the Allegheny Trail up a week, so enjoyed weather like this all three days.
    Another thing we did right resulted in a rule I shall try to follow in the future: "On a three day hike, arrange to be lost only on the second day." The trail passed through an area of old logging slash - maybe logged a year or two ago, and blazes were absent or obsolete. We managed to bushwhack down to the West Fork Trail with only 3 or 4 extra miles and not too many hours added to our planned route.

    Bonaparte did better than expected, so I'll probably bring him to Dolly Sods, but will plan to carry his pack on uphill stretches.

    I posted a short video of my insulated wind-screen/heat-exchanger in use with a Bushcooker wood stove here.

    All in all, I fine trip. Oh yeah - and using a very light weight summer UQ, I was cold. It almost came as a pleasant change.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    Cool.

    I have not been on that trail for about 10 or 15 years - I was up there doing trail maintenance, clearing deadfalls and such. Sounds like it could use some more work.

    Jim

  3. #3
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jsaults View Post
    I have not been on that trail for about 10 or 15 years - I was up there doing trail maintenance, clearing deadfalls and such. Sounds like it could use some more work.

    Jim
    Yes. We're going to go back and take the High Falls Trail to the ridge and then head south past the Wildell shelter to figure out where we went wrong. Only the logged area was unclear; the rest of the trail seems in good shape. Someone said that some women did the whole Allegheny trail on horseback not too long ago (bringing pack horses for gear, including a chain saw).
    Last edited by WV; 08-25-2011 at 11:22.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    Yeah, there was a story in the Charleston Gazette

    about that. I didnt read carefully. I will have to check the online edition.

    Jim

  5. #5
    Senior Member vdeal's Avatar
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    WV,

    Where you begin and end?
    "There are places in this world that are neither here nor there, neither up nor down, neither real nor imaginary. These are the in-between places, difficult to find and even more challenging to sustain." - Thomas Moore

  6. #6
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by vdeal View Post
    WV,

    Where you begin and end?
    Started at Gaudineer, near the patch of virgin Spruce, and headed north. We intended to spend the second night near the Wildell Shelter, but the logged area where we lost the trail is a mile south of there. We knew the West Fork Trail was running parallel below us so we followed some logging roads and then bushwhacked the last bit to it, then went north a couple of miles to the High Falls Trail and camped a little way up that. Then we met our ride at the trailhead on FR 44 on Wednesday.

  7. #7
    Senior Member vdeal's Avatar
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    I did not know that the area had been logged. The trail in that area skirts right on the private/public boundary. Was the logged area on top of the ridge or on the side down towards the West Fork Trail?
    "There are places in this world that are neither here nor there, neither up nor down, neither real nor imaginary. These are the in-between places, difficult to find and even more challenging to sustain." - Thomas Moore

  8. #8
    Senior Member vdeal's Avatar
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    Here's the link about the 3 women on horseback. Now personally I'm not a fan of horses in most of the eastern US. The soil just doesn't stand up to the abuse and in rocky sections the rocks look like they been run over by a dozer but at least they were encouraging a lower impact pack.
    "There are places in this world that are neither here nor there, neither up nor down, neither real nor imaginary. These are the in-between places, difficult to find and even more challenging to sustain." - Thomas Moore

  9. #9
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by vdeal View Post
    I did not know that the area had been logged. The trail in that area skirts right on the private/public boundary. Was the logged area on top of the ridge or on the side down towards the West Fork Trail?
    It was the private property that had been logged. We saw red blazes for the MNF boundary and explored both sides, but we couldn't locate the place where the trail re-entered the national forest.

    Thanks. I saw the Charleston Gazette article. I agree about impact on trails.

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