Trail Gourmet on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail
Ohiopyle, PA
September 5-8, 2024
Co-Trip Leaders: Leslie Green and Nanette Eshelman
Type of Trip: Backpacking
Trip Cost/Deposit: $270/$135
Cancellation Date and full payment: June 5, 2024
Wilderness Level: 3
Trip Difficulty: Moderate to Rugged; up to 8 miles per day with 1000+ daily elevation gain
Policy on Fitness Self-Assessment Level 3: Applies to backpacking trips in which we hike with 25-35 pound backpacks. In one day, we can hike up to 7 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain on maintained trails, or up to 5 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain on more rugged trails. For a Level 3 trip you should be comfortable hiking 6-8 miles in a day in hilly or mountainous terrain with a 25-pound backpack. Level 4: Denotes backpacking trips on established but rugged, unmaintained trail with multi-day backpacks (30-40 pounds). The hiking can be steep and sustained with long daily distances (up to 9 miles) and significant elevation change (up to 4000 feet). You should be comfortable running/biking/hiking for several hours without many breaks.
Policy on Fitness Self-Assessment
Level 3: Applies to backpacking trips in which we hike with 25-35 pound backpacks. In one day, we can hike up to 7 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain on maintained trails, or up to 5 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain on more rugged trails. For a Level 3 trip you should be comfortable hiking 6-8 miles in a day in hilly or mountainous terrain with a 25-pound backpack.
Level 4: Denotes backpacking trips on established but rugged, unmaintained trail with multi-day backpacks (30-40 pounds). The hiking can be steep and sustained with long daily distances (up to 9 miles) and significant elevation change (up to 4000 feet). You should be comfortable running/biking/hiking for several hours without many breaks.
Adults Only
***Before registering***
While considering your participation in CIWC trips, be aware that some trips will involve shared transportation, lodging, and other activities. Each participant is encouraged to evaluate your comfort level with such arrangements based on your health condition, vaccination status, and unknown COVID positivity rates at the time of the trip. Members are encouraged to review the COVID waiver as a part of this evaluation.
Many backpacking meals consist of boiling water to rehydrate a meal in a bag or bowl. But imagine that at the end of a hike, arriving at a camp site where you have a reserved Adirondack-type shelter with a fireplace, a convenient water source, and time for cooking a hot delicious meal. This four-day trip be on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, located in the Allegany Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. This section of the trail will include some of the highlights of the trail, including Beam Rocks and Spruce Flats Bogs as we traverse 5-8 miles per day. We will also complete our trip with a post-hike meal at the townsite Ohiopyle, where you can see the falls of the Youghiogheny River and briefly explore the tourist shops in the area before we start home. You’ll need to be physically fit for this, so expect some practice hikes leading up to the trip.
For the “gourmet” part of the trip, each hiker will receive an individual backcountry kitchen, complete with pans, tools, and food for three breakfasts and three dinners that you will learn to cook while at camp. This may include breakfasts such as blueberry pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and hashbrown casserole. Dinners may include chicken (or meat substitute) pot pie, pizza, and trail tacos. There will likely be some desserts as well – maybe camp baked cookies or something yummy like that. There will be vegetarian options, but other dietary options will be limited. You will need your own stove that uses a fuel canister and has adjustable heat. You may borrow one from the club if needed.
Questions may be submitted to ciwcinfo@gmail.com.
All trip participants must fill out and submit a CIWC Medical Form and Long Waiver Form.
Effective on all trips, there will be a $50 nonrefundable registration fee. This fee will be assessed to those who sign up for a trip, get on the roster and then later cancel. Even cancelling before the cancel date. Those who never make the active roster (i.e. those who stay on the waitlist) will NOT be charged the $50 cancellation fee.
