ABOUT THE PARK:Appalachian Trail Pennsylvania - The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
DIRECTIONS:GPS Coordinates 40.86067, -75.29255
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| Wind Gap Parking |
HIKE DISTANCE: 14.3 miles
THE HIKE:
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| The Appalachian Trail comes in from the south through the parking lot and continues up steps from about the mid point of the parking lot. |
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| The trail ascends steeply at time but once at the top, other than minor ups and downs, that is the bulk of the ascent. |
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| There were some partial views along the way but it was hazy early in the morning so we'd check back at the end of the hike on our way down. |
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| The trail levels out at the top and then follows the ridge. |
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| The trail surface alternates between semi-rocky ... |
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| ... very rocky ... |
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| ... and smooth but it is mostly rocky. |
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| Crossing the private Blue Mountain Water Company road. According to my ancient 1998 Appalachian Trail Guide, there should be a view here but there is not. We went a few steps in either direction and the best I could find was ... |
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| ... a short distance to the left. |
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| When I hiked Wolf Rocks from the opposite direction back in 2012 this bypass trail did not exist so I was not aware it was there. I decided to go on to Wolf Rocks then loop back around on the bypass trail. |
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| The rocks start getting bigger and soon it's all boulders. |
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| Hiking along Wolf Rocks. |
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| I had not seen any of the spotted lanternflies in the woods but on my, were they enjoying the Wolf Rocks views. They were everywhere on the cliffs. |
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| After a scramble down from Wolf Rocks, continuing north on the AT, it's a short distance to the other end of the bypass trail where we turned left. |
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| This was the most pleasant, smooth and easy going part of the hike. It was a welcome change after all of those rocks. |
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| The bypass trail starts to become a bit more rocky right before joining back up with the AT. |
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| At the AT we turned right to head back... |
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| ... over all those rocks. |
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| Picking up some litter along the way. |
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| At the water company road Brodie wanted to turn right. I think he had about had it with all the rocks, too. That would have been a nice, smooth descent back to the parking lot but unfortunately it is not allowed as it goes into posted water company property. |
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| Some better partial views on the descent. |
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| Coming back out at the parking lot. |
