AT at Wind Gap

Appalachian Trail at Wind Gap (10/20/2012)

Today we returned once again to the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, hiking "south" from Wind Gap along the ridge of Blue Mountain to a pipeline cut about 3 miles away. We parked in the lot on Route 512 right in the gap (suitable for perhaps 8-10 cars), crossed over Route 512, headed north along the side for a tenth of a mile (walking under Route 33) and made a left up the AT stairs to start the climb. And it was a relentless climb on switchbacks for the first 30 minutes. On wet leaves it was particularly slow moving.

Views (partial and open) abounded. There's a nice view in a telephone line cut on the way up, then a beautiful north-facing view at Lookout Rock. 10 minutes later there is another wonderful view, this time south-facing, at Hahn's Lookout. Route 33 can be seen winding along in the distance. For the next 1.5 miles or so there are partial views through the trees. The next amazing view comes within a quarter mile of the pipeline cut and is easy to miss. Hunting is allowed in this area and there is a trace of a spur heading north to a hunting blind on the hillside looking down into the valley. It's perhaps the most gorgeous vista of all, north-facing the many hills and farmlands of Pennsylvania. Finally, our "southern" or western destination was the pipeline cut with views both north and south. The north was a bit limited because the vegetation in the cut made it difficult to go very far north. But the southern view was spectacular.

Total distance hiked was 6.5 miles in just over 3.5 hours with peak fall foliage in abundance.

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