Post by GaliWalker on Nov 2, 2015 6:52:04 GMT -8
Last gasp of fall color (Laurel Highlands Trail, Nov/1/'15)
The Laurel Highlands Trail, tucked away in southwestern Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, stretches for 70mi from its southern terminus in Ohiopyle to its northern end in Johnstown. Since Ohiopyle is only a 1.5hr drive from Pittsburgh, the southern part of the trail is my go-to destination for conditioning hikes. I've hiked this section so many times that I don't bring the camera along anymore. However, yesterday I realized that I'd never actually hiked the Laurel Highlands Trail when fall colors were popping. Even though most of the leaves have dropped, I thought I might get lucky with some color in the upper story. With this in mind I decided to carry all my camera gear, hoping to grab one last gasp of fall's magic.
I began my hike at 6:40am, under overcast skies. My plan was to go to the 7.5mi mark and back, which would give me 4000ft of elevation gain as well as ample opportunities to coax as much color out of the trail as I could. Since I knew this stretch like the back of my hand, I already had a good idea about what type of photos I wanted to take, as well as where I wanted to take them. I pretty much stuck to this plan for the next 8+hrs, flitting from one shooting location to the next. Even though peak fall had come a week ago, and things were rapidly winding down, all but two of my shooting locations had enough good stuff to work with. Yummy.
GaliWalker on trail
Hiking/photography stats: 15mi, 4000ft gain, 8.25hrs
The Laurel Highlands Trail, tucked away in southwestern Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, stretches for 70mi from its southern terminus in Ohiopyle to its northern end in Johnstown. Since Ohiopyle is only a 1.5hr drive from Pittsburgh, the southern part of the trail is my go-to destination for conditioning hikes. I've hiked this section so many times that I don't bring the camera along anymore. However, yesterday I realized that I'd never actually hiked the Laurel Highlands Trail when fall colors were popping. Even though most of the leaves have dropped, I thought I might get lucky with some color in the upper story. With this in mind I decided to carry all my camera gear, hoping to grab one last gasp of fall's magic.
I began my hike at 6:40am, under overcast skies. My plan was to go to the 7.5mi mark and back, which would give me 4000ft of elevation gain as well as ample opportunities to coax as much color out of the trail as I could. Since I knew this stretch like the back of my hand, I already had a good idea about what type of photos I wanted to take, as well as where I wanted to take them. I pretty much stuck to this plan for the next 8+hrs, flitting from one shooting location to the next. Even though peak fall had come a week ago, and things were rapidly winding down, all but two of my shooting locations had enough good stuff to work with. Yummy.
GaliWalker on trail
Hiking/photography stats: 15mi, 4000ft gain, 8.25hrs