Fascinating bushwhacking hike at PA State Game Land 51 (Dunbar)

John, Abby, and I went on a strenuous Pittsburgh Hiking meetup hike in PA State Game Land 51 (Dunbar). It was over 10 miles and quite exploratory. There were large ascents and descents and bushwhacking, rocks, mud, waterfalls, getting “lost”, finding the way back. Fun, but wow, totally exhausted afterwards!

Starting off on the road:

Cool rocks

This is cool: holes in rock:

Some unmelted ice!

Miscellaneous

Bug “hitchhiking” on my Vibram FiveFingers KSO Trek shoes:

Cool view from where we are up here:

Uh, we seem “lost”, but we do have maps:

Lunch break

Abby made these really cute seasoned chicken/veggie lettuce wraps for our lunch!

Our hike leaders Jeff and Terri enjoying lunch:

Everyone is hungry!

Abby also made shrimp and seaweed wraps:

What happened to this leaf?

Going down:

It’s hard going down when it’s also sideways:

Down to the waterfall

It was exciting seeing the waterfall down there. Probably very few people have gone there because there is no direct route, only the hard way as we did:

Going back up:

Found a way back!!

Rhododenrons, all of a sudden:

Going through them:

Wow, amazingly, a narrow passageway between rocks!

Finally, a view of our cars!!

Conclusion

A very tough hike, not the kind Abby and I would normally do every weekend, but it’s really special to have people like Jeff and Terri lead us through this kind of terrain, and for all of us to be surprised by what we find.

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