Transformative adventure in the Laurel Highlands
As of this writing it’s the official first day of Spring. The Spring Equinox, Snow is in the forecast for next week. In like a lion out like a lamb, is what I always heard growing up. Today has me thinking, well I’ve been thinking, thinking how hard it is again to get outside. Not sure why, it’d would be nice to know. But thinking about a transformative day I did have recently outside. A painful journey that by the end healed me just a little. A little enough to deal, to understand and to forgive. I had made my way to the Laurel Highlands again. This is where I seem to dump any emotion. Maybe because the area is so many things and beautifully forested and because the forest heals. I took a trusted path out to the historic dam. This area is very neat and beautiful any time of the year. The spray from the water had iced over various parts of the huge sandstone steps made for a quite unique perspective. I spent a lot of time here listening to the flow of the water and contemplating my thoughts but I still wasn’t ready to hike back to the car.
I had to heal more on that day. There was more to see, more to hike. That’s why I decided to take the part of the trail which I’ve never thought to take before. This was transformative, this was magical. This was healing. It started with a rock scramble which gave out to a little path that ran next to the stream. Then there were several foot bridge crossings. One particular area was very cool with two foot bridges crossing over the stream, and the two streams flowing into one. There were all of these areas where the small rapids of the stream were rushing over the rocks in the middle. I could’ve stayed here for hours and hours taking it all in. It was a lovely scene with little snow starting to fall made a nice contrast to the orange leaves of the birches. The area was enchanting. Now that it’s Spring, it’s the perfect time to go back and maybe catch the swells in the streams after the coming rains. Looking forward to another cleansing and invigorating hike.