Allegheny Trail

Today the Monday Morning Hikers tackled a small section of the Allegheny Trail. We started at the Jerry's Run trailhead and turned around at the top of Allegheny Mountain - the Virginia-West Virginia state line and the Eastern Divide. We waited for cooler weather (for the required physical exertion) and leafless trees (for better views). For a summer view of this same trail, check out an earlier blog post.

The start of the trail. It's muzzle-loading season for deer, so blaze orange (or other bright colors) were recommended. We also noted that the trailhead kiosk had been repainted and notices updated. The day started cool, but an uphill hike required shedding layers pretty quickly.

Sometimes the trail blaze still works even if the tree has changed position.

Approaching the top.

At the top. The guidebook says that the sign was known to be there in 2017. We can now vouch for its existence in 2020.

On the way back down. As expected, the return trip took a good bit less time.

The view from the top of the trail is still obscured by a lot of trees.

For about half the hike, the trail follows a ridge that snakes up to the top.

A male Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis). The eponymous question mark is apparently on the underside of the wing.