parkCanaan Mountain Memorial Day Backpack - Tripod.com

M.R.Hyker’s Latest Adventure

05-28 to 30-05:Canaan Mountain Backpack:Most hikers in the regionhead’ forplaces l ike Dol ly Sods orOtterCreekfor this hol’idayweekend.Dont get me wrong. I love those places but sometimes it s nice toenjoy a touch of sol itude with your friends on such occasions.The foottraffic inthe aforementioned hikingvenues grows increasingly higheron hol idayweekends witheach passingyear.Theadditionof signstoDol ly Sods North and the Wi lderness furtheradds tothe congestion.Thisyear I decidedtotrysomething different. I wouldfind a placethatwas relativelyeasyto get to, right inthe middle of a populartouristarea but sti l l offerthe feel ing of a wi lderness experience…andsol itude.

The seeds of the plan were planted last Septemberwhen Janet and Irented a cabin at Blackwater Fal ls State Park. I hiked alone for threedays,exploringthe parktrai l system and about 80%of al l the MNFtrai ls within the constraints of CLR 13 (Canaan Loop Road 13).Overthose 3days I hiked about30 mi lesandsaw no hikers andonlyonemountain biker.After I went home and worked upthe data I hadcol lected I decidedthata 23 mi les/3 daycircuiton Canaan Mountain

might provide moresol itudethantheotherpopularvenues whi lelosing very l ittle, if any,of that Monongahela magicthatwe al l enjoy.I was joined by Doc,The Coca-cola Kid,Chardonnay,Dr.Mike, HungryTed, Indiana Moserand CognacJack. It had been raining sinceCumberland but as if on cue the weatherbroke exactlyat noon,ourpredetermined step-off time.The walkalongYel low Birch Trai l waspleasant.The Rhodos and Hemlocks quicklyengulfed us. In notime wepassedthrough anarea Ical l the BigSqueeze (Twolarge bouldersthatyou have to l iteral lysqueezethrough whi le lowering yourself downabout three feet at the same time), passed the park stables and foundourselves hiking up Engine Runalongthe Davis/Al leghenyTr.

We lunched at the shelterat the intersection withthe Plantation Trai l .The airwas prettychi l lyso before long wethrew ourpacks backonand proceededdown PlantationTrai l andthenontothe Rai lroad GradeTrai l .The forest is thickwith mature Hemlocks,Spruce,Rhododendronand Mountain Laurel . Eventhoughthesun had’comeout the canopyalmost total ly blocked it out in spots. Byfouroclockwe had madecamp, anothershelter next to a pleasant, gurgl ing, rocky stream.Dr.Mike and Chardonnaylaidclaimtotheshelterwhi lethe restof uspitchedour tents ona hi l l behind it.Wegot the campsquaredaway,ate andfinished ourchores before a brief thunderstorm withsleet hit.Itonlylasted about 30 minutes.Wejust sat inthe shelterand waitedfor itto pass.

The nextdaywe broke camp around nineand hiked out toCLR13 andheaded to the focal point of the outing,Table Rock.What a view!Thisiswhere we met the firsttwo humansonthetrip,afatherandsonoutfora dayhike withtheirdogs.We l ingered as longas wecould,munching on an early lunch,watching white, puffyclouds race acrossthe sky and taking in thesurrounding lan’dscape.We wanted to staylongerand had plentyof time (The nights camp was less than 4 mi lesaway.) buta’ couple of dark, ominous clouds prompted us togetamove on. Its better to get to camp early and get set up before therain comesthen l inger toolongand getcaught ina deluge.

We reached camp by 3:30.The rain never material ized so we’ enjoyeda longer than usual eveningcamped out inthewoods. I dont knowthe history of the sp’ot but it must have had some relevance back inthe logging days. Its an almost perfect circularopening in the spruceabout 10 yards from the headwaters of Lindy Run.Asmal l pi leof leftovergravel in one cornermakes methinkthe area was connected tothe maintenanceof either the PlantationTrorthejeeptrai l that

preceded it long ago.Whatever its origin itwas a nicesiteand easi lyheld al l of our tents. Later inthe’year it wi l l be fi l led withthe smel l ofhayscented Fern.Around nine oclockwesaw our firstand onlymountain bikerof the trip.We wondered if he real ized he was soongoingto be doinga lotof night ridingtoget backtowhere hestartedfrom.

We woke up earlythe nextdayto more glorious sunshineand by8:30found ourselves descending Lindy Run Tr.This north section is nolongermaintained bythe Forest Service. Its sign has been remo’vedfrom its northern junction with CLR13 but the trai l sti l l exists. Its abeautiful trai l although extremely muddy in spotsjust l ikethe othertrai lsonthe mountain.The hiker is surrounded by Rhododendron,huge Hemlocks and Sp’ruce intermixed withYel low Birch and assortedHardwoods.When youre notwalking alongthe Run you cansti l l hearit as it courses down its route to BlackwaterCanyon. I got a kickout ofrecreatingthis photofound inthe MNFtrai l Guide of a lone’hikerstrol l ing along an enormous sandstone outcrop nearwaters edge.Thistimethere arethree hikers intheshot.

Along our final leg we stashed ourpacks near the parking area for theLindy Point Overlookand walked out to enjoy even more fantasticviews.Onourway backtoourpacks we metour first real group ofpeopleas couplesandfami l ies began driving downfromthe lodgeandcampground.We made quickworkof the road walkandenjoyed apleasant cool down strol l along the ShayTrace Ski Trai l .We were backat the lodge by 11:30. Not counting the Lindy PointTourists we sawtwo hikers andtheirdogs and the one nig’ht riding mountain biker intwenty-three mi les of hiking. I thinkthats pretty close to achieving asense of sol itude.

On the wayoutof the parkwe madea quickvisit tothe namesakefal ls and then proceeded tothe Purple Fiddle in Thomas forone lastlunch together.As we said ourgood-byes it began to rain.The tripendedas it began.