TR: Allegheny Trail - Glady (High Falls Trail) to Cass
Oct 21, 2014 22:11:50 GMT -5
Post by hikeer on Oct 21, 2014 22:11:50 GMT -5
Got out for a nice three day trip on the ALT this past week. Arrived at the trailhead just south of Glady and got started hiking around 9:00 AM. Weather was overcast and it was wet from an inch of rain that fell on Tuesday night/Wednesday. The first part of the High Falls trail travels through an open meadow, which made for some wet pants. The trail travels up to a saddle on Shavers Mt. where the Allegheny trail splits off from the High Falls trail, which continues off the other side of Shavers Mt. down to the High Falls on the Cheat River. The sun came out for a few minutes from time to time in the morning, beautifully illuminating the rain laden ferns and branches. Arrived at Johns Camp shelter around 3:30 PM - which was about an hour after the start of pain in my right knee. I've had problems with the IT band in that knee over the last year and had been rehabbing over the summer to hopefully avoid a repeat on this hike, but to no avail. It was raining and I was feeling pretty low. In order to finish the hike I'd planned, I needed to get in around 15 mi./day and I'd only gone about 10 at this point. I thought I probably should stay here for the night and then limp out to Gaudineer the next day and hitchhike down to my car at Cass since in the past the pain just got worse the farther I went. After resting for a half hour and filtering some water I decided that I wasn't ready to give up yet and decided to hike out and get in a couple more miles and see how it went. I basically limped for the next 5 miles on my left leg and made it the Gaudineer Knob scenic area around 6:30PM. It was raining and getting dark when I saw the sign for the Picnic area, so I decided to hike the 1/2 mile up the road to see if there was maybe a covered shelter. No luck on the shelter but there was a bathroom where I was able to store my backpack, hang up wet clothes, and cook dinner. Plus it had bear proof trash cans where I was able to hide my food for the night without having to hang it. I pitched my tent next to the bathroom, took a couple of Ibuprofen and got a pretty good nights sleep.
Chilly 41* in the morning, but I packed up and was walking in a cold mist by 8:00 AM. Knee was actually feeling better today and while it hurt off and on, it actually got better as the trip progressed and by the next day I had hardly any pain, which was great! The sun came out as I started descending Shavers Mt. and I stopped and cooked some oatmeal for breakfast around 10:00 AM and was able to get some gear dried out a little. I opted for the high water route as I wasn't sure how high the river would be after the rain, plus it was a couple miles shorter, which I figured would be good given the knee problem. The high water route had some outstanding scenery along Fill Run leading up to Rt. 250 and I enjoyed this part of the hike very much. The last two miles into Durbin were along Rt. 250, which passed uneventfully with the exception of a low altitude flyover by some fighter jets. Arrived in Durbin around 1:00 and had lunch at the Station 2 restaurant. Spaghetti and garlic bread was decent and I hiked out of Durbin and across the Greenbrier River around 2:00 and headed up the mountain. Very pretty hiking this afternoon as the trail led through open forest, rhododendron and up and down various ridges. After 4-5 miles, I made camp just below a ridge on Little Mt. Wind began to pick up and blew fairly hard off and on all night, which I had trouble sleeping through.
Was awake before dawn and packed up and headed out at first light. A sign on the trail said it was only 11 miles to Cass and I had checked the weather forecast while in Durbin and it was calling for rain in the afternoon, so I wanted to try to make it to Cass before it began if possible. Very nice, scenic hiking for most of the day today. The trail follows the crest of Little Mt. for several miles and then travels the ridge overlooking the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank. I was a little disappointed that there weren't really any good unobstructed views of the NRAO, but it was cool to look down on it nevertheless. A couple of the radio telescopes they have are gigantic. The trail today seemed to be either going up or down all day, with precious little flat walking. However, I was making good time and decided to hike straight in to Cass to have lunch. It turned out to be a 14 mile trip instead of 11, but I arrived in Cass around 2:00 PM just as it started to rain. The place was packed with tourists on this Saturday afternoon, but the restaurant wasn't busy and the Pork BBQ with fries and cole slaw hit the spot!
The trip turned out great and I was very grateful for my knee holding up the entire trip. Most of the leaves were off the trees above 2800 feet, but they sure made a pretty carpet to walk on! 44 miles and did not see a single other hiker on the trail for the entire way.
Chilly 41* in the morning, but I packed up and was walking in a cold mist by 8:00 AM. Knee was actually feeling better today and while it hurt off and on, it actually got better as the trip progressed and by the next day I had hardly any pain, which was great! The sun came out as I started descending Shavers Mt. and I stopped and cooked some oatmeal for breakfast around 10:00 AM and was able to get some gear dried out a little. I opted for the high water route as I wasn't sure how high the river would be after the rain, plus it was a couple miles shorter, which I figured would be good given the knee problem. The high water route had some outstanding scenery along Fill Run leading up to Rt. 250 and I enjoyed this part of the hike very much. The last two miles into Durbin were along Rt. 250, which passed uneventfully with the exception of a low altitude flyover by some fighter jets. Arrived in Durbin around 1:00 and had lunch at the Station 2 restaurant. Spaghetti and garlic bread was decent and I hiked out of Durbin and across the Greenbrier River around 2:00 and headed up the mountain. Very pretty hiking this afternoon as the trail led through open forest, rhododendron and up and down various ridges. After 4-5 miles, I made camp just below a ridge on Little Mt. Wind began to pick up and blew fairly hard off and on all night, which I had trouble sleeping through.
Was awake before dawn and packed up and headed out at first light. A sign on the trail said it was only 11 miles to Cass and I had checked the weather forecast while in Durbin and it was calling for rain in the afternoon, so I wanted to try to make it to Cass before it began if possible. Very nice, scenic hiking for most of the day today. The trail follows the crest of Little Mt. for several miles and then travels the ridge overlooking the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank. I was a little disappointed that there weren't really any good unobstructed views of the NRAO, but it was cool to look down on it nevertheless. A couple of the radio telescopes they have are gigantic. The trail today seemed to be either going up or down all day, with precious little flat walking. However, I was making good time and decided to hike straight in to Cass to have lunch. It turned out to be a 14 mile trip instead of 11, but I arrived in Cass around 2:00 PM just as it started to rain. The place was packed with tourists on this Saturday afternoon, but the restaurant wasn't busy and the Pork BBQ with fries and cole slaw hit the spot!
The trip turned out great and I was very grateful for my knee holding up the entire trip. Most of the leaves were off the trees above 2800 feet, but they sure made a pretty carpet to walk on! 44 miles and did not see a single other hiker on the trail for the entire way.