The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (LHHT) runs from Laurel Ridge State Park to Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. The elevation profile for the entire 70 – miles of the trail is fairly level, with the ends having elevation a bit more extreme, and miles 0 – 11 having the MOST extreme elevation changes of the entire trail.

So, guess where I initiated myself to the LHHT? 😁 Along with Queen V, who is up for all the adventures…better or worse.

Hiking the LHHT requires preplanning as one needs to reserve the shelters for overnight use. It will cost a small fee to reserve, but it is worth every bit! You can have the entire shelter to yourself! Each shelter has a fireplace, plenty of hooks to hang items, and even a place to put up a hammock. The shelter area includes a nice pit toilet with separate building for men/women, trash cans, a pump (non-potable water), and a wood splitting area stocked with firewood. If you are a backpacker, can you imagine such a glamping setup in the backcountry?!! I mean…you don’t have to pack out your trash! I dropped trash into the bin at least five times in the span of twelve hours just because I could!!

Planning this overnight backpacking trip back in April I reached out to my backpacker gal pals to see who wanted to go…seven of them were like HELL YEAH, SIGN ME UP! And I did, reserving two shelters for us. Reflecting on this now, I won’t reserve for everyone next time. Why? Because life intervened to a point where five of those who had signed up could not come along. The reservation system is easy to navigate and this trail is not as populated as say, the Appalachian Trail, so next time each can make their own reservation. Just makes it cleaner if they need to cancel.

Another hiking friend, Cathryn, wanted to go last minute which was great…because we had PLENTY of room! 😄 More importantly, neither Queen V or myself had hiked with Cathryn in a while and looked forward to reconnecting with her.

We met up at Ferncliff parking area in Ohiopyle, the southernmost trailhead for the LHHT at MILE 0, then I shuttled the three of us to Jersey Hollow parking area, MILE 11-ish. A trail kiosk, that had paper maps of the LHHT available, greeted us, and we each greedily snatched one. Honestly, you would have thought we’d won the lottery or something. Ka-ching! Seriously, though, having a paper map is a good idea for this trail as we did not have cell service for most of our trek back to Ohiopyle.

Storing our coveted maps, we started down the trail towards the Ohiopyle Shelter. What a fantasy land! A dense fog laden woods with large boulders covered with ferns and moss. Water dripped from the ends of the moss that hung over the sides of boulders. Add the reds and golds of trees and other foliage that have turned as Autumn enters…and ohhhhhhhh, such hobbit-like lushness!

Early fall foliage added so much value to this hike! And I was incredibly thankful for something to be thankful for as my knees took a beating on the downhill to the shelter. Good lord almighty, that was long, steep, downhill littered with little rolling rocks and acorns. Slow going and demoralizing! I was elated to see the shelter sign…but that elation was short lived as my head turned from the sign to the side trail. Only the top of the trail was visible! Down, down, down. My thought, my actual thought, as I stood there, almost paralyzed, was I should have packed more Ibuprofen! Then I put one foot in front of the other and went on down.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Ohiopyle Shelter area. Arriving early-ish in the day, we had a lot of time to relax, set up camp, and eat. Queen V brought a Red Velvet moon pie that she shared with me and that sugar buzz was better than any ibuprofen! Later in the evening the ranger came up to check on permits. He asked us where the rest of the people on the reservation were and jokingly said, “Please tell me I don’t have to go looking for them!” In our chat with him, he asked where we had started, where we had parked cars…the usual stuff. When I told him we had a car parked at Jersey Hollow, he paused and looked up. Oh no, I thought, what is wrong with Jersey Hollow…”What? Is it not safe?” I asked. He replied, “no, not that, but overnight parking is not allowed there.” Oh crap … crap, crap, crap! “Are they going to tow my car?” This is my first question and all I can think is that I am going to pay this man any amount of money to drive me to Jersey Hollow so I can move my car!

He let me know the worst that would happen is IF the game warden checked the lot, then it would be a ticket, like a $5 ticket. *whew* crisis averted!!!

The rest of the evening was delightful. I had my tent set up in my shelter and stayed cozy all night. There were some aches and pains as I carefully navigated each move of my body, but otherwise good!

Next morning the climb out of the shelter area was not as bad as anticipated and we were on our way once again! This trek was not as grueling as that downhill had been (Queen V’s opinion may differ 😏). It was a hard day, but not as soul crushing…except for the climb coming up to the MILE 5 marker. STEEP and the elevation on the profile did not match Queen V’s Garmin or how we felt! My strategy was to make sure to break when needed, drink lots of liquids to keep all my muscles well hydrated, and make a conscious effort to look up and enjoy the beauty that surrounded me. It worked!

Trudging back into Ohiopyle, we found lunch right on the trail at Falls City Pub & Restaurant. I downed two glasses of Pepsi before my meal of salmon wrap and onion rings arrived. That Pepsi hit the spot and the food was delicious! Full tummy and completely caffeinated and sugared up, I was in high spirits as Queen V shuttled me back to my car. On arrival, we all scanned for a parking ticket, and gave a unanimous whoop when one could not be found! 🙌🙌🙌

Twenty-ish hours later, I am still able to walk and all I have is love for the LHHT. So much so I am already planning the next section of the LHHT with Queen V.

One foot in front of the other, hike on!