I got in two hikes this past weekend because a meet up group was doing this one on Sunday. They normally do fitness-y things south of where I am and never have the desire to battle traffic during the week. This hike was on the weekend and was less than a half an hour from where I live so I figured I may as well go!
The drive up was beautiful. I was around traffic maybe 10 minutes and the rest was on residential suburban type streets lined with delightful fall foliage. I felt like I was in Pittsburgh’s shadyside or Mt. Washington neighborhoods.
The lot at the trailhead is small but there is some street parking. I found my group and we exchanged pleasantries while we waited for everyone else. It wasn’t the type of pleasantries you hate having with people; the superficial small talk, you know? It was nice.
I had no idea what type of trail it would be so, learning from the Heninger Flats hike, I had my water pack filled with snacks. It was another overcast day so it was cool at least, just in case. We set out and it’s a beautiful trail. You’re just out there surrounded by the rolling greens, trees, and dirt trails.
This trail is nice because there are gradual uphill portions or you can take the more serious trails which have steeper uphills. We chose the steeper ones, obviously. They were steep but they weren’t all too high so you had some level areas before getting to more steep sections which made it nice. Once at the end you can climb some stairs to a little overlook thing. There were some areas where you could see the city but because of the cloudy day we couldn’t really see them which made me happy! One person said she felt like she was hiking in Germany. I had never been there but she lived there for four years so I took her word for it. All that was needed was a nice German pub at the end! The fog was starting to roll in which made for an amazing time. My phone died so I was unable to take any more photos but go on this hike! It’s not too crowded and the people that were on it were great.
half marathoning my way through grad school 