Section Hiking the Rachel Carson Trail
The day is grey and cool and rainy. It is almost December and I’m calculating trail miles, plotting how to fit in the final 75 miles of my 500 mile hiking goal into the last 35 or so days of the year.
I finally set foot on the Rachel Carson Trail (RCT) in 2021, one of my favorite discoveries in a year of intense hiking goals. I’m a bit ashamed that it took me this long to explore and hike this 45.7 mile trail system that spans between Harrison Hills and North Park - two of the Allegheny County Parks, each offering incredible opportunities for hiking and other outdoor recreation. The trail takes a winding and punishing route to connect these two parks, passing through community parks, public and private lands, along roadways and up and down intense, long steep hills of power lines.
The RCT is famous for the 35 (or so) mile Trail Challenge, in which participants attempt to tackle the majority of the trail (or the shorter 18 mile half challenge route) in a single day in the middle of summer, near the solstice -- the longest day of the year. Initially, I had intentions to attempt this on my own, a “rogue” challenge (not on event day) and assemble a small group of friends to spend the miles and eventual misery with me. In my mind, it looked something like this: build a killer playlist, plan fun food and rest breaks, laugh and joke through the miles...maybe even raise money for a nonprofit or cause. I saw it all coming to life. It turns out that my friends are much more into type two fun in my mind than they are in reality. I am still hopeful for a rogue challenge day in the future -- and perhaps, completing the half challenge in 2022.
Although not in one go, I was able to hike the entire trail in segments on a series of hikes both solo and with friends, borrowing a few of the route plans from the Trail Challenge training plans. These involved arranging shuttles, leaving a car parked at the end point, while hiking with a few friends, and then shuttling back to the car at the start. My first impressions of the trail were that of amazement at how well the route is blazed with yellow markers. Although an in depth guidebook and GPS routes exist to help with planning and navigation, I found this almost entirely unnecessary since the route was so well marked.
Following the blazes, with only a vague idea of the start to finish route and mileage made it a fun adventure -- never quite knowing what you might encounter next on the trail. I prefer to hike this way. While some hikers need to know every ridge and landmark, I prefer to be surprised, less foreboding for my tired legs, and putting off the “are we there yet?” mentality as long as possible.
I set my sights on the RCT because I craved “endless” miles. The fatigue of fighting to piece short trail segments into a longer hike in my local parks had been weighing on me, and I wanted a trail that was simply longer than I could possibly complete in a single day. Rachel provided just that.
I’d hiked a segment of the trail in North Park a few times, between the ice skating rink and the lake, but my first true experience on the RCT came in the company of newer friends. I assembled a hiking trio with women I’d met through events at 3 Rivers Outdoor Company to hike the first trail segment from Harrison Hills to Bull Creek Road. For me, hiking the RCT has been an experience in community building -- a bit of a personal theme in 2021. It was definitely atypical of me in the spring of 2021 to plan hikes with people I’d met maybe once or twice before, but I’ve always found it hard to build a group of reliable mid-distance hiking friends. So I was thrilled when the plan for the first hike came together.
In my book, there is no greater way to learn about someone than to go on a hike with them. You have (seemingly) endless time to ask questions, dive into conversations, and maybe even see how they operate when the going gets tough. On the first hike on the Rachel Carson, it was great to be out there with other women; navigating the mud, hills, a horde of dirt bike and ATV’ers and the hillsides above Route 28.
It was early summer when I made it back to Bull Creek Road to pick up the next section of the RCT, subbing out one member of the original trio for another old friend. It was a hot day filled with hill climbs on the toughest segment of the trail for elevation gains and losses, creek crossings, and a real test for my injured hip. I had been using these hikes on the RCT to train for my first backpacking trip on the Presidential Traverse, carrying weight in the form of extra Nalgenes filled with water. My pack weighed in at 25 pounds. By the last miles of this day’s route to Springdale, my hiking partners and I had finished the last of my water weights.
The RCT changed the way I consider and plan hiking routes -- using on road connections to get where you need to go. I have noticed a shift in my ability to navigate parks, accepting roadways as a part of my hikeable route. The roadway connections on the RCT are memorable because they are an opportunity to fly and crush miles AND serve as a connector between the “wild” tree covered forests, park lands, and even clear cut power lines to the towns and neighborhoods of the Pittsburgh suburbs. It is the juxtaposition and convergence of these two types of trail segment along the RCT that make it such a unique and amazing experience. A triumph for urban long distance trail building and maintenance. This became especially apparent on the third trail segment hiked from Springdale to Emmerling Park.
This segment of the trail had a lot of on road mileage -- the most yet, but also passed by the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, early on in the hike. It was here that Rachel Carson grew up with a curiosity for nature and the world around her, along with concerns for the environment. Overlooking the industrial Allegheny Riverfront and the nearby towering smokestacks at the Cheswick Generating Station (although much different than it would have looked for Rachel in the early 1900s), it is easy to have concerns and fears that echo Rachel’s.
I completed the last segment of the challenge route on my own on a hot, hot day in June. The temps were mid-90s for the day as I trekked from Emmerling Park to North Park with the goal of a post-hike dip in the North Park pool. That hope was squashed midway through the hike when I learned the pool was closed due to staff shortages. A friend suggested I turn around and head back -- but that was not an option. I had a challenge to complete. The hike was beautiful, through park and road connections, passing through the Shaffer Run checkpoint which had been my volunteer post during the Trail Challenge in June. Completing this last segment on my own I felt strong, swift and capable. The longest segment yet. I finished the hike without a picnic or fanfare as seen at the finish line on challenge day -- my reward was a shuttle pick up and ice cream from my Mom, and a dip in the Schenley pool after.
It was a few months before I went back to complete the last few sections of the RCT. First, the North Park pool to the ice rink, and back with my good friend, hiker, run club member, and backpacker, Ellie -- her third section of this trail with me. The final two sections, to the Western and Eastern Terminuses, I completed with my dog, Portland, on Monday afternoons in the fall.
The Rachel Carson Trail is a pretty big deal for Pittsburgh. As an ex-nonprofit program manager, who spent years after college building, maintaining, and fundraising for trail development in my hometown...trails are a big deal here. I’d love to re-name the <cough> Steel City into something a little more up to date, the Trail City, perhaps? It’s not everywhere that you can find a top notch mid-distance hiking trail within your local county. The Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy (RCTC) also builds and maintains the Baker Trail, a 134-mile trail for hiking and backpacking in Pennsylvania. Sounds like my to-do list just got longer!
A last note about the Rachel Carson Trail, the Trail Challenge, and the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy. A big part of the trail community that I love so much around the RCT is made possible by volunteers (Hey! I guess that includes me). So much of the trail work, maintenance, stewardship, event organization and training hikes are all run by dedicated volunteers. If you are looking for an opportunity to get involved, consider volunteering with the RCTC. If you don’t have time to volunteer, but enjoy the trails and the value they provide to the region, an annual membership donation is only $15!
P.S: Found myself (and hiking pal, Ellie) back on the Rachel Carson Trail for a Thanksgiving morning hike from Springdale to Emmerling Park. The perfect workout before the feast on an otherwise quiet and very overcast November day. Over 8 miles on the trail and we didn’t see another soul until we got down to the last stretch in Emmerling. This season, I am thankful for friends, new and old, and for being able to play a bigger role in the outdoor community in the Pittsburgh area through my work with 3 Rivers Outdoor Company.
Thanks for following along! More adventures to come as I hike the final 60 miles of my 500 mile goal. Until next time, Live Wildly!