Adventures in the Laurel Highlands
Hiking the Laurel Highlands Trail
It hardly seems possible that it was a decade ago that I did my first long-distance hike, a 70-mile backpacking trip on the Laurel Highlands Trail (LHT) in western Pennsylvania. With me was “Gutsy,” a lady true to her trail name who’d hiked the whole Appalachian Trail the year before. I kept in touch, and she decided to drive up from her South Carolina home to accompany me on this trek between Johnstown and Ohiopyle. We did the hike in late spring, surprised in May by the chill at night and the lack of leaves on the trees at this elevation.
Writing an article with reference to the LHT today reminded me of that long-ago journey and how it taught me a new side of life: living outdoors and enjoying the act of putting one foot in front of the other for day after day after day.
Here’s a feature story I wrote about the trail soon after my hike.
Summer in Florida can be pretty oppressive, with the heat and humidity making outdoor recreation less than optimal. But there’s a quiet corner of Florida where cool water and cool breezes are the norm, a place that feels a lot like Appalachia, with high clay bluffs overlooking swift rivers and shallow water dancing across limestone rapids, with sandy beaches where you can beach your kayak and take a swim. You’ll find this summer getaway in the northwest corner of our state within Blackwater River State Forest, more than 190,000 acres of protected land between Alabama and Pensacola. Learn more about what to see and do there this summer from 
A perpetual traveler, I'm Sandra Friend, the author of more than 20 books on outdoors, nature, and travel subjects. I'm an award-winning member of the Society of American Travel Writers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Florida Outdoor Writers Association.