These photos were taken in late March when there was still some snow and ice on the ground and rocks. The soft snow makes for a decent landing area, and it adds some protection in combination with a good crashpad. There are a few good outfitters in the Western Pennsylvania area where good crashpads may be purchased. I suggest visiting REI in Pittsburgh, Exkursion in Monroeville, and Appalachian Outdoors in State College. When possible I've included my crashpad in the photos for scale. Its a large sized crashpad with four inches of thickness called the Metolius Behemoth. This crashpad has always protected me very well from lofty falls on "highball" climbs and bouldering problems.
This section of the trail is easily reachable from the parking area located off of US Route 30 on the Eastern slope of the Laurel Mountain in Somerset, County, PA. This rock formation exists within the boundaries of Laurel Ridge State Park, and it is about a one half mile casual hike to the south of the parking area along the Laurel Highlands Trail. The LHT is well marked with a yellow or gold blaze. There are about two dozen good bouldering problems here, and the height of the climbs average around ten feet. There are a few nice low and medium height overhangs as well as a few daunting highballers reaching to 16 and 18 feet in height.
Below is a satellite image provided by Google Earth which details the area. The image shows the parking area and the approximate location of the rock formation. I've included an a trail detailed in neon green which approximately follows the Laurel Highlands Trail to the rock formation.
No comments:
Post a Comment