2016-03-25 42 -78

Location

In the woods of Allegany State Park by Limestone

Plans

Drive down to the hash with the dogs after work. I should have a bit over an hour of daylight left to work with by the time I park.

Participants

Pedalpusher
Simon the dog
Myka the dog

Expedition

There was a slight change of plans. I got out of work a little early due to the Easter weekend so I packed the dogs in the car a bit before 15:00 and we were on our way.

I ended up passing the last turn because I was expecting to see River Rd, but it was named differently at the intersection of Rt 219. Driving down the road, after getting through Limestone, the road became very narrow and rough. I found a gas pipeline to park so I was at least off the road and we started walking to the hash.

I saw on the map there would probably be hills, but I was surprised at the steepness I had to deal with. Undeterred, I zigged and zagged up the hill and finally matched the elevation of the hash which made things much easier. I found the spot with little GPS dancing and got a few pictures for proof.

We then walked back to the pipeline to hike around a little more before heading for home. However, when I got to the pipeline, I saw the steep hill I would have to climb at the top and was thinking twice about it. While I thought about turning back for the car, I looked across the valley and something in my subconscious must have recognized the view. When I looked back up the hill, it clicked that I was very likely at the top of the hill from an earlier hike-after-expedition and decided I needed to find out for sure.

Gasping for breath at the top, I walked along the open(and now flatter) path where I met a snowmobile trail and confirmed it(although I was 99.875% sure at the top) that this was indeed a place I had previously been. We walked around on top of the ridge for another hour before making our way back to the car.

Knowing this road led into the main part of Allegany State Park, I wanted to explore this road some more since I've never been this way before. I figured there would be a 50/50 chance I would make it into the park. Since it's the offseason and you don't have to pay an entrance fee, a gate might be open and working my way up, I found it was.

I enjoyed my scenic drive through the park on my way home, happy that I expanded my mental map of the area and joined a few things that I didn't know were connected.