July 2009 Archives

The Baker Trail was established in 1950 under the sponsorship of the Pittsburgh Council of the American Youth Hostels. Named for Pittsburgh attorney Horace Forbes Baker, the trail originally began in Aspinwall on the north shore of the Allegheny River and, after crossing the Allegheny at Freeport, wound its way over 133 miles through farmland and woods to Cook Forest State Park. The Aspinwall to Freeport section, though, was lost due to development and irreparable fragmentation, so in its present form the Baker Trail begins on the hilly bluffs over the east shore of the Allegheny River just past the base of the Freeport Bridge. A northern extension added in 1971 took the trail past the Cook Forest Fire Tower terminus and extended it into the Allegheny National Forest and, eventually, connected it to the North Country Trail. Different web sites state that the present length of the Baker Trail is 132 miles, or 140 miles, or 141 miles.

My Front Yard:
My front yard is a wood-fenced rectangle about 20 by 24 feet. It has been a multi-use part of my property serving as the "dog yard," "bird feeding area," and general buffer between the house and street. I am not a compulsive lawn manager and only reluctantly give in to the need to mow. This front yard area, though, always had a thick, green grass cover and was visibly healthier and more robust than any other lawn on my street. I attributed this to moderate applications of dog urine from two very gentle, very urinarily healthy dogs, Shiga (a golden retriever) and Danny (a schnauzer mix).

June 10, 2009: Laurel Highlands Trail
Deborah and I had to meet the Pennsylvanian Amtrak train in Greenburg at 6:50 pm and, so, decided to spend the afternoon on a section of the Laurel Highlands Trail nearby. We drove past Ligoneer to a parking area off of Rte 271 and stepped off on the north bound trail that represents the last day's section for those hardy few that backpack the entire 70 miles. We had several time and weather (there was a coming rain storm predicted to start at 5 pm) constraints, so we planned only 1 ½ hours "in" and a retrace of our steps on a 1 ½ hour "out."
It was a humid, cloudy day not quite hot, but very steamy. We carried water and plenty of insect repellant. When the breeze died down, the mosquitoes swarmed around our heads, legs, and arms.