The Allegheny Journal: A Backwoods Adventure Guide: July 2011

THE PARSON'S YEARLY PILGRIMAGE:

Dear Hiker,

At its height, The Allegheny Journal was updated weekly or even daily. But life circumstances have called me away to balmier climes (Pittsburgh). Nowadays, The Journal is only updated with three or four new posts annually, as I make my yearly pilgrimage back to the forest

And yet, our readership is still high, and some folks still use the blog as a guide for trekking and backcountry camping in the Allegheny National Forest and surrounding regions.

Please use older posts carefully. As much as we would love to preserve our beautiful public lands in amber, all things change, forests included. Frackers roll in and wantonly destroy air, water, and woodlands. Lumber barons and conventional gas drillers do the same. Mother Nature has some hand in changing the face of the forest, too. And in an odd twist of woodland justice, a few things and places really do change for the better, every now and then. Clearcuts become meadows, then brush, then young forest. Blowdowns enrich the soil and the forest is healed, in time.

Walk this land gratefully. Walk this land slowly. Many of its wonders are subtle, and it truly is a sacred place. I'm happy to be journeying with you.

~The Blogger Formerly Known as the Snowbelt Parson